A new app, By Appointment, will launch in early July 2020 to assist retailers to re-open their stores and consumers to shop with confidence.
Created by hospitality and IT development experts Charles Smith and Adam Batten, By Appointment offers valuable benefits to retailers, consumers, the police and local authorities at a time of uncertainty. The app will reassure the public and retailers as they manage the evolving guidelines and health risks of Covid-19 as we emerge from lockdown, keeping pavements free of unnecessary queues, thanks to its real-time virtual queuing system.
In its first iteration, this free, easy-to-use app is a one-stop shop offering a range of benefits that will allow people to plan and streamline trips to their favourite High Street stores in the ‘new world’, minimising contact, saving time and optimising their shopping experience. It will be downloadable for Apple and android devices from early July.
Once registered (which is quick and easy), By Appointment shoppers will be able to:
- book / cancel / reschedule appointments, free of charge
- visit stores by appointment
- monitor / join real-time virtual queues, eliminating the need to physically stand in line
- search for stores by category
- map out a shopping route
- utilise contactless store check-in and out
- monitor store capacity
- participate in essential COVID-19 self-certification checks
- communicate with chosen stores.
Retailers are offered a free subscription to By Appointment for the first year if they sign up by 31st July 2020, meaning they can offer customers a state-of-the-art app without the need to invest in developing brand specific technology. There are plans to roll out the service across the UK and to retailers abroad. Retailers signed up to By Appointment will be able to:
- personalise the app on a store-by-store basis
- schedule customer appointments without the need for labour-intensive staff admin
- administer COVID-19 pre-screening checks
- deliver contactless checking in and out of customers using door hosts scanning QR codes
- facilitate real-time management of in-store numbers against capacity
- identify in-store shoppers
- facilitate communication with shoppers
- deliver valuable consumer data analytics that have been unavailable to date, maximising strategic omnichannel marketing.
