BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN: The retail industry has witnessed a massive change in recent years. While the Internet revolution of the last decade enabled shopping anytime, anywhere; the mobile revolution led by smartphones and applications propelled on-the-go shopping and made a radical shift in the way brands, consumers and retailers interact with each other, Borneo Bulltin reported.
Taking advantage of this are two retail shops, Vincci and Bossini (Brunei) that have set the benchmark for all retail shops.
According to the Assistant Manager of Vincci Brunei, Norfaizatul Fatimah binti Hj Ahmad Nawi, the app is a better way to reach out to their customers. Instead of using SMS alert, Vincci customers can now view all the latest products offered at a simple touch of a button.
“We used to make announcement using SMS alerts when informing our customers regarding the latest promotion in our store. The downside of this system, however, is that customers would not know what kind of products are on sale.
“Therefore, with the Vincci Brunei app, customers can view our products, through the News tab or simply through our galleries. This was not possible before the app is being created,” she explained.
Norfaizatul Fatimah also noted that Vincci Brunei is the first Vincci store to have its own mobile app in this region.
Sharing the same sentiment was the Brand Executive of Bossini Brunei, Erfinah Tan, who said that with the app, they can cover a wider range of customers, especially youngsters.
Erfinah explained that retail mobile application development has provided a great opportunity for Bossini to expand their marketing strategy by opening the mobile channel to the retail experience.
“If you are a retailer, or have anything to sell, making your products as accessible as possible is likely to be one of your priorities,” she noted.
However, she added that what the app offers is still “very limited” because “it is too simple”.
“There are currently two Bossini branches in Brunei; Kiulap and Mabohai. However, the app does not allow me to create a separate album for the different products of the different branches. At the same time, it also takes too much time to upload the photos into the app.
One of the main features she said she would like to see in the app is the “push notification” service.
“Every time I posted new photos of the latest clothing-line from Bossini, there is no notification on the app. How would the customers know about our latest promotion and products?” she asked.
In response to this, developer of the app, Infindo Technologies have taken measure to meet their clients’ (SMEs) needs.
“We are aware that the apps have limited features now For our next step, we are seriously looking into the feedbacks and requests from our customers, such as on what features to add,” said the developer.
“Sure, we could build an app with many wonderful features, but the question is whether will it be applicable and useful for a retail shop?” added the developer.
Infindo has been expecting such feedbacks from their clients, to study more about the app and how it can help their businesses.
“Moving forward, we want to work closely with our clients in order to really provide them with a tailor-made solution specifically catered for each unique business,” said Infindo.
Infindo has revealed that the firm would be releasing Android versions of the SME apps and that it would also consider looking at other platforms such as Windows 8 phones and Blackberry OS, in a bid to make the app as “widely available as possible”.