An enabler for a U.S. retailer’s new selling model in customers' homes

As smart home technology began to flourish, so did the need for a trusted advisor to help consumers connect their technology within their homes. One of our clients recognized this unmet need in the market and planned to quickly launch a new selling model to assist their customers by recommending products and technology solutions throughout their homes.

When we were presented with this request to enable the in-home consultants to transact using our mobile POS solution in customers’ homes, our first task was to analyze what was different about the role versus an associate working in a store — also, what was the different functionality, security, or equipment required. Is the assortment they sell in-home any more limited than that of those sold in a store, or is it broader?

After analyzing the in-home selling model, we determined that the selling process was essentially the same in a customer’s home as it is in a store. Due to the way our software is architected and its ability to support thin client deployments, we only needed to make minimal configuration changes.

As our Device Management Service (DMS) auto-senses if the device (in this case, the tablet) is not connected to a peripheral mechanism, we automatically turn off printing capabilities. The in-home consultant does not have a receipt printer or cash drawer attached to the tablet; therefore, receipt printing and the ability to accept cash as a payment was disabled. Receipts were automatically setup to be sent via email.

Because our architecture is designed as an omnichannel solution, we were ready to pilot ahead of our client’s planned timeline. The in-home consultants were armed with a tablet and tasked with creating a personalized technology plan for each customer while in their home.

Prior to our POS solution this client had spent over $500,000 annually to transact on POS devices outside of a store as they had to run connections to the devices.

Our client was able to pilot and launch the new selling model within months owing to our cross-channel solution strategy that connects across all points of contact.  Many employees had already used our POS application in-store and since it was basically the same user interface, the training costs were significantly lower than anticipated – once again proving that our Advantage architecture allows our client’s customers to connect quickly through any digital channel: in-home, online, or in-store.