The state of technology today enables us to do things that business men and women of ages past could only dream about. The combination of company apps and the explosive growth of the "internet of objects," especially when these two are used in tandem, unlock an amazing number of doors. Here's what I mean:
Using Apps to Upsell or Side-sell
Did you just release an upgrade to your product or service that you'll be charging for? If so, use your company app to ping each customer who has it installed as they walk through your door. Let them know that the (insert the name of your fantastic product or service) that they know, use, and love now has an update! Even better, since they're app users, they can get a 15% discount if they buy today! Doing this creates a sense of urgency (buy today!), exclusivity (only offered to members "in the know"- those who have your app installed - and convenience (you're not telling them about it until they're already in your store). This works just as well with side-selling ("Did you know? Customers who use (your product here) have found it works great when used in tandem with (insert another of your products here). You can find it on aisle five, and it's 10% off today!")
Pre-Sell
This is all about creating lifetime customers. Your product has a useful shelf life of X, and you know what that useful life is because it's your company and you need to know these things. For about a dollar, you can add wireless, smart functionality to your product, and program it so that when it's nearing the end of its useful life, it will communicate with your store app. This will activate and tell your customer something to the effect of, "Hey! Five years ago, you purchased X from us. The product is nearing the end of its useful life, and since your initial purchase, we've made extensive upgrades to it! If you bring us your old one, we'll give you 20% off of your new one!"
Of course, you don't have to do anything with the old item, but you could. You could refurbish and resell, or give it away as part of some community outreach program...whatever makes the most sense. The point is, your own products begin to sell themselves. If your products are good ones, then there's no real reason why a customer wouldn't want to buy from you again, and your product sent them a polite reminder to help that process along!
Combine with VR for an unforgettable shopping experience
If you really want to take it to the next level, you can combine both Apps and the Internet of Objects with Virtual Reality to create an unforgettable experience. This would be a fairly major undertaking, but it's no different than any other software project. Essentially you'd create a virtual reality "Shopping Concierge" for your customers. When they enter your store, your app starts automatically. Based on the customer's shopping history, at different points during the shopping trip, your app offers helpful hints and suggestions: ("Our records indicate that you replace your printer's ink cartridges roughly every three weeks. It's been five, how are you doing where ink is concerned?" or "Did you know? We just released a new virtual keyboard! You plug in a small USB projector, and it displays the keyboard on whatever surface is just in front of the device you're using. You could turn your tablet into a laptop, without having to carry an actual keyboard with you! You'll find it on aisle three." And so on. The possibilities are endless. You could make this "Shopping Concierge" as robust, or minimalist as you wanted. Customers could type in a product name (you already know which store they're in), and it'll tell them where to find that item. Or attach a bar-code scanner to it and let them perform price checks on the fly.
It's these kind of next generation services and this kind of attention to detail that's going to keep your customers coming back.
