Infogain A Great Fit For Barratt's Mobile Retail Vision

Online, March 13, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Manchester, 03 March 2010, Infogain, a global retail, and mobile solutions provider, today announces the first phase of deployment of a tailor-made retail mobility system for leading UK shoe retailers, Barratts Shoes, now underway for delivery on time.

Developed to support Barratt's drive for multi-channel excellence to coincide with the opening of a state-of-the-art new concept store environment - its flagship outlet on Oxford Street on 25 March 2010 - a sexy new iPhone app will go live the same day, presenting the first phase of a wide-reaching, fully integrated retail mobility system.

Delivering a unique and highly compelling virtual shopping experience, in phase one, the Barratts iPhone app will present the entire season's collections, searchable by occasion (weddings/evening dress/casual wear, etc) or by brand; a trend-setting Barratts Changing Room where clothes images can be uploaded to mix and match against the latest shoe styles, and a 'birthstone' finder with related colors and styles, to add a new, very personal search dimension. Customers will be able to email, mms and Facebook their outfit choices to friends for fun or honest feedback! Customers will also be able to upload their 'completed look' to the Barratts website to enter a dedicated 'My Barratts Style' online competition.

Set up for easy-browsing, personalization for preferences and pre-defined shoe searches, the app will be seamlessly transactional for 'click & collect', loyalty recognition and voucher fulfillment with scan able barcodes on completion in April.

"We wanted to give customers an exciting mobile proposition, delivering a compelling, reliable service but with plenty of engaging, quirky features to help us extend our brand reach into new consumer bases" Points out Barratts' E-commerce Director, Ken Platt.

"As a brand leader, we have to deliver on our promise to customers, which is why we chose Infogain as our mobile retail partner" a trusted company with vision and capability, that could do more than just build our iPhone app, but also provide a strategic collaboration to help us plan for the mobile shopping revolution with confidence."

Designed to appeal to female users, the development of the iPhone app, which will be heavily promoted to Barratts customers in the run up to the store opening, was inspired by the creative thinking of a customer survey and an internal 'Pink Tank' of target market female staff (18-24 yrs). This valuable research identified the appeal-points of young, fashion-conscious, mobile phone users, identifying trend imperatives, service appeal and lifestyle drivers.

By end of April, the iPhone app (which will be extended to Android, Blackberry and wider smart phone platforms later in the year), will be fully transactional. At that time, the solution will be integrated into Barratts new CRM system for effective multi-channel delivery; seamlessly joining up in-store POS, E-commerce, call center and back office systems to maximize new mobile revenue channels, get a 360° customer view, achieve rapid customer data acquisition and implement low-cost, highly targeted, loyalty programmes.

"We've been fortunate to work with Barratts, which is a highly progressive company, ahead of the retail curve," comments Mark Collin, Infogain's Vice President, UK, & Europe.

"Barratts is a much-valued partner to Infogain in its approach to developing custom-built mobile solutions. We have been integrating new technologies into businesses for almost 20 years and the mobile revolution is the most exciting of groundswell opportunities for the retail industry. Our strength is in seamlessly connecting multiple operational systems - legacy, new and existing front and back-office - but it takes a visionary organization like Barratts to demonstrate the real-world value of such a pioneering approach."

Infogain facilitates Customer Centric Retailing by enabling retailers to simply integrate every customer touch point to present a single customer centric experience; delivering unprecedented customer service and valuable, real-time customer data capture - stimulating customer loyalty and cementing retention by liberating the customer's purchasing experience.

The refurbishment of Barratts' Oxford Street store is the first of six in the brand "estate" to undergo a major investment to create a modern retailing environment with clearly defined departments, fashion focus areas, merchandising by ?story?/trend and materials such as wood and white shelving for warmth and cleanliness.