Merkle introduces new customer experience products for contactless shoppers
The products aim to increase the flow of information and service to shoppers without having to download an app.
Customer experience management company Merkle debuted two new products today at CES that are aimed at improving the contactless shopping experience, both in-store and on-delivery, as health and safety concerns persist with the ongoing pandemic. In an effort to make the shopping seamless, neither product requires shoppers to download a separate app.
Scan & Know allows shoppers to get more information about a product in-store by scanning the product directly with their phones. Without downloading an app, the consumer can find out product details and pricing, order the product to be shipped, or add it to wish lists or wedding registries. The experience integrates with a retailer’s website, loyalty programs and customer profiles. It’s also compatible with ecommerce platforms, including Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Adobe Commerce, BigCommerce and Shopify.
UnboxIt is a QR-code-enabled customer support product that gives customers instant access to instructions and related support content via a QR code located on the product’s packaging. Using this technology, retailers can update information instantly, giving customers the most current support about a product that was shipped to the home or picked up curbside.
Both new products join Merkle’s ShopNXT suite of digital and customer experience solutions.
Why we care. This tandem of products focused on experience can help retail marketers navigate two challenges. First, the pandemic is still unresolved, and behaviors like increased dependence on mobile and contactless shopping might likely continue even after a so-called return to normal.
Secondly, although mobile devices are ubiquitous for shoppers, downloading an app remains a stumbling block for frictionless commerce. Retailers that can bring more of an “app-like” experience to a mobile browser, email or SMS avoid this barrier to speedy sales, effective customer service and, ultimately, loyalty and CLV.
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About The Author
Chris Wood draws on over 15 years of reporting experience as a B2B editor and journalist. At DMN, he served as associate editor, offering original analysis on the evolving marketing tech landscape. He has interviewed leaders in tech and policy, from Canva CEO Melanie Perkins, to former Cisco CEO John Chambers, and Vivek Kundra, appointed by Barack Obama as the country’s first federal CIO. He is especially interested in how new technologies, including voice and blockchain, are disrupting the marketing world as we know it. In 2019, he moderated a panel on “innovation theater” at Fintech Inn, in Vilnius. In addition to his marketing-focused reporting in industry trades like Robotics Trends, Modern Brewery Age and AdNation News, Wood has also written for KIRKUS, and contributes fiction, criticism and poetry to several leading book blogs. He studied English at Fairfield University, and was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He lives in New York.
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