Do touchscreens actually work on the shop floor? A question that is frequently asked, while everyone is convinced that these screens can provide added value for customers and employees. A rule that also applies here: technology only works if it makes human interaction easier.

1. What is going wrong?

Touchscreens in shops have been around for decades. Sometimes they have are “black” sometimes we see a website or a bland animation. The starting point is often that the company website should also be shown on the shop floor. But is this really interesting for the visiting customer, or rather relevant, if that customer can open the same website with his or her smartphone in no time ? The touchscreens are often the old crock of the shop designer. Either they are placed in a corner and far away from where people are waiting, or in places where there is no communication between customer and salesperson. In short: Touchscreens on the shop floor do not work.

• Part of the conversation

But when do they work? Touchscreens become an efficient tool when embraced by the shop personnel that is present. When, for example, in addition to products the achievements are also effectively shown in a “lookbook”. Think for example of the specialist in facing bricks, who scans the bricks in his shop with an RFID code, so that immediately all photos of realisations with that specific brick are shown. Or the car dealer, who can show his stock of hundreds of used cars in his showroom. When salesmen and advisors are trained to use the touchscreen in a natural way in sales or advisory conversations, this will ensure more optimal communication, clear information and ultimately result in more turnover.

• To measure is to know

So the application must be more than the standard website but adapted to the specific environment and “the phase” of the sales conversation. The customer literally looks at the offer together with the sales person, so that they come to the right choice more on the basis of equality. And sometimes, you can even let customers get on with things on their own, simply by telling them “Feel free to click on the touch screen to get some inspiration, I’ll be right with you…”. The touch screen as a so called waiting alleviator. Via a specific intermediate page, the sales rep is asked to press an invisible button first, so that it can be measured how many times the customer and how many times the sales rep start up the application. If one weighs up this use against a monthly cost of a few dozen euros, the calculation of the break-even point quickly becomes an interesting exercise.

Bruno Hancké

Managing director ThisPlays2