How Nebraska Furniture Mart Builds Customer-Centric Service

The retail landscape is more competitive than ever. And it's crucial to keep finding new ways to engage customers and meet their needs so they'll keep coming back. For Nebraska Furniture Mart, one of the keys was to equip sales associates with versatile mobile devices that can let them present product information, check inventory, and even complete transactions—all without having to leave the customer.

A few years ago, the store ran a pilot with handheld devices that could let sales associates scan product codes and provide pricing and inventory information from the floor. But the devices couldn't help complete the sale, so they were scrapped.

The tablet picture has changed over the last few years, with better screen size and touch capabilities, so Nebraska Furniture Mart decided the time was right to look for a new solution that could handle the sales process from A to Z. They needed devices the sales team could use to not only scan barcodes inventory information, but also to process credit card transactions. Long battery life was also essential, since the salespeople can't stop to recharge in the middle of a shift.

After evaluating a number of device types and models, Nebraska Furniture Mart chose the Windows 8.1-based HP ElitePad tablet , which offers a familiar, touch-based interface plus a variety of retail-specific products including a strap for holding the tablet, an additional battery, an integrated scanner, and a card reader. The tablets include Intel® Atom™ processors, which provide the performance to support graphics-intensive functions and the energy efficiency to extend battery life over a full work shift.

The sales team's productivity is up now that associates have the tools they need to move around the store with customers. They go from initial inquiries to processing sales—all without leaving customers alone in the store or forcing them to stand in line for a cashier. With this new, improved customer experience, Nebraska Furniture Mart is looking forward to boosting both sales and customer loyalty.

You can take a look at the Nebraska Furniture Mart's solution here or read more about it here. To explore more technology success stories, visit www.intel.com/itcasestudies or follow us on Twitter.