EP #509: How mobile will help retailers combat showrooming - with Yan Simard of ZapTap

We are turning a corner in the rocky relationship between retail and mobile.    At first there was disdain as retailers looked at mobile as the web's ugly little child. Not worth the effort to invest in, not worthy of the brand stamp, not a threat. Just. Simply. Not.   Then the fear and confusion arose as upstarts and digital-only retailers promptly handed traditional retail a world of pain and discomfort. Showrooming emerged as a term at the expense of those that ignored the threat so prominently displayed by early mobile adopters.   Now, a somewhat calmer world where retailers, scared, scarred and clinging to life from the first three rounds of this fight, are slowly understanding what the mobile world means to their business (incidentally, for those that don't know, it means pretty much everything).   A large part of this transformation is as a result of the emergence of real-life-to-digital connectors with the mobile phone being (for now) the center. One such company is Canadian-based ZapTap who are focused on deepening the relationship with customers and driving more sales while they are in the store.   Founder Yan Simard has been waiting for almost a decade for the technology to emerge to allow him to build ZapTap. In this episode you will see the depth of knowledge he has as his company helps the struggling retailer to make the right mobile decisions. You will also get a glimpse into the complexity mobile has brought to retail but with that complexity comes incredible (and I mean INCREDIBLE) opportunity.   Full show notes can be found here: http://untether.tv/2014/ep-509-how-mobile-will-help-retailers-combat-showrooming-with-yan-simard-of-zaptap/