White Paper| Tablets in Business

RETAIL INDUSTRY

Tablets whether its iPad, Galaxy tab, Nexus 7 or Microsoft’s surface, all these have seen great global adoption in recent times. It hasn’t taken long for retailers to recognize that these tablets can make their brick and mortar experience better. Segments like cosmetic, apparels and jewelry have shown positive effects. Here consumers visualize and compare different combinations before making a purchase decision. Customers can check store inventory, compare products, check customer reviews, scan items and place orders. It can help sales associates and store manager to assist customers.

Usability in Retail sector:

• Scrolling tablets at multiple locations: High cost large screen signage can be replaced by low-cost small tablets at multiple locations, scrolling offers in the vicinity and thus catching targeted and relevant eyeballs.

• Placed/fixed tablets on shopping carts: By providing tablets to customers when they enter a mall or shop or by fixing it on the shopping cart, quick relevant information regarding price, appearance, and suitability of products can be provided without any hassle.

• Information on demand: Tablets can inculcate interest in products by displaying information about products’ ingredients, nutritional facts, and recipe at the touch of a finger, instead of monotonous looping demonstration on large signage.

• Augmented Reality in Retail Stores: Customized apparel recommendation can be provided by full body scanning on tablets. Many retailers use virtual fitting apps as an advertising tool to enhance their sales and customer experience. Interior retailer Franc is trying to simulate furniture arrangement for its customers. One can take a picture of a room from a tablet, selects pieces of furniture, place them inside the room and see the appearance of the furniture on-screen. Toshiba is planning to do the same for its appliance retail stores. Augmented Reality industry is predicted to grow many folds in years to come and tablets present themselves as the most favored platform for them.

• Reducing time and post-purchase dissonance: Demonstrating all possible combinations of products on customers’ tablets leads to a quick decision, reducing time spent by staff on per transaction and also decreases post-purchase dissonance which leads to brand loyalty.

HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

The hospitality industry is a multi-billion dollar industry which includes restaurants, transportation, travel, entertainment, hotels and amusement parks. This industry depends upon the consumer’s disposable income. Let us have glimpses of how hospitality enterprises can benefit by deploying tablets.

Hotels

Decades ago, hotels relied on static signs in different formats such as paper posters and etched metal plates. As the industry grew, these traditional formats become obsolete due to high printing costs, lead time, paper and metal waste. For updating these posters human resources are also required. Hotels needed to deploy flexible devices that allow rotating ads and changing content anytime. Success entirely depends on responsiveness in the service industry, whether it is to provide guests on the spot directions, making suggestions and to entertain them when required. Few usages of tablets in Hospitality are:

• Tablets in hotels enable easier check in: Instead of attending large no. of customers at a single point, hotels can place multiple tablets accessible to customers for self-check-in at various locations in reception and thus reduce time and effort.

• Customized service: Customers can view available rooms, room interiors & decor, sights, locations and go through the services available and choose a custom plan.

• Easy access to menu: Tablets can be provided in the rooms or can be fixed at a point of access through which customers can easily access menu items for breakfast, lunch & dinner and order accordingly.

• Tablets serve as a multipurpose tool: Tablet in rooms can serve multiple purposes such as a reminder, telephone directory, telephone, providing entertaining options, live videos of tourist places, information of shuttles provided by the hotel for tourists and their timings as well, etc.

Restaurants

Tablets on display have been a natural choice to streamline the customization in services process in restaurants. They’ve also been providing the flexibility of digital menu choices that enhance customer’s experience as well as make the restaurant more efficient. Moreover, these interactive, searchable menus can be edited by the restaurant owners on their prices, availability, and specialty of the items.

• Customers can use tablets as self-service ordering, see the detailed description of food and access to lists of food ingredient with their calorie counts.

• They can provide an opportunity to enhance customer engagement by promotions and social media.

• Restaurant owners can provide information regarding events hosted by them and tickets to grab customers’ attention.

• Tablets can be used as kiosks, table display and handheld for taking orders.

• Processing payments through tablets minimizes human errors, reduces wait time and expedites transaction.

• Tablets can serve as easier and effective way of taking customer feedback.

Tablets as a signage solution provide the customers and restaurant owners a unique user experience that is interactive, entertaining and highly productive.

REFERENCES

• Tablets as Restaurant menus (http://www.techbucket.org.)
• The proper use of Tablets in Retail- Digital Signage, Sarah Colson Dec.17, 2012.
• Planning for a tablet display designing for success, Frank Mayer and Associates Inc.
• Will augmented reality technology replace fitting rooms with apps, tablets? Feb.19, 2013. 
• Global digital signage, dynamic signage, electronic signage, narrowcasting market report (2011-2016), Markets and Markets, Jan. 2012, Pages: 211.
• Digital Restaurant Menu for Android Tablets.