• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 7, 2013

I do most of my shopping online, so I was surprised to see mobile point-of-sale terminals at Nordstrom during a recent visit to the physical store at South Coast Plaza. The devices, reminiscent of the Apple store's POS mobile terminals, identify a trend that Forrester Research calls out in a recent report.

The consumer's smartphone becomes the trusted adviser and the sales associate the facilitator, per Forrester Analyst Adam Silverman, who offers an overview of changing consumer expectations for search and discovery in stores. Forrester analysts interviewed 13 vendor and retailers, including Fujitsu, Needle, Razorfish, Reflexis Systems, Retaligent Solutions, Skava, and VeriFone Global Bay. The findings indicate why businesses must enable engagement in the store, rely more on technology for the experience, and prepare to address key challenges based on the changes.

Some 57% of U.S. online mobile phone users between the ages of 18 and 24 years old have researched prices online for products they considered buying while shopping in a physical store, compared with the 51% of customers between  the ages of 25 and 34, making physical stores more of a self-serve experience. Some grocery stores take that self-serve concept all the way through to checkout at POS terminals.

It turns out that only 24% of U.S. online adults agree that the store associate provides the best product information. And although some online prices are lower than in-store prices to compensate for shipping fees, about 34% of people participating in the survey say they have researched information on a mobile phone in a store to make sure the retailer wasn't overcharging them.

Call it the psychology of connecting mobile devices with trusted information, but apparently one way to build consumer trust becomes putting a handheld POS terminal in the sales associate's hand. Some 66% of online adults who have shopped for luxury items in the past three months said they are more likely to shop or interact with sales associates who use a mobile device.

In the next generation of the retail store, sales associates become the conduit between the data and consumer, according to the report. Forrester underscores the importance of understanding whether in-store engagement will work for your organization and customers. It won't work for everyone. Establish success metrics and measure frequently. Determine the mix between covert and overt communication with your customers, and capture customer intelligence through marketing campaigns and interactions.