Why retailers need to go mobile: data roundup

According to recent research, retailers worldwide miss out on up to £6,6 billion ($10,2 billion) in revenue every year by not going mobile. With sales through mobile doubling between 2013 and 2014, and set to increase even further, the opportunities retailers miss by not investing in their mobile offering may be growing increasingly large.

Mobile shoppers: increasing in numbers, buying more

Some recent data on mobile shopping paints an interesting picture of the present, underlining the impending need for retailers to up their mobile offering:

15% of consumers now use their mobile as a primary shopping device.
85% of millennial parents use mobile to shop.
89% of millennials prefer a store with advanced mobile capabilities.
Almost half of mobile shoppers say they value the convenience of shopping from smartphone, whenever and wherever they want.
As of 2015, mobile commerce makes up 40% of UK sales; last year it was 32%.
UK consumers’ expenditure on shopping from tablets and mobiles is expected to increase by 360% in the next 10 years.
Mobile shoppers spend 66% more than customers who only buy in-store.
Consumers who shop via mobile tend to spend more on online purchases than people who use their laptops to shop: they make 47% more transactions and spend 55% more.

Although the opportunity is big, it appears that many retailers are not yet taking full advantage of it:

70% of British retailers don’t have a mobile website or app in place. Only 3% of UK retailers say their business is mobile-ready.
One fifth (17%) of American retailers still have no mobile offering.

One retailer’s challenge is another retailer’s opportunity

Could they be afraid of the challenges? Going mobile is not a decision which can be taken lightheartedly. Customers demand a mobile shopping experience, but they also want it to be effective, easy and smooth. A poor mobile-enabled website or app is more likely to lose than gain sales. According to data,

Not all apps fulfill the expectations. Only 16% of apps are used ‘a lot’ by consumers. More than one quarter (27%) of retail apps have been downloaded and never used.
Mobile shopping needs to be smooth. Mobile shoppers expressed frustration with slow-loading pages, websites freezing, and having to scroll through too many of products on the small mobile screen.
Apps are more likely to be used if they offer good guaranties of safe payment options.

The race to the mobile shopper is not for everyone: there are risks, and if badly managed, retailers might risk losing clients. However, the opportunities far outweigh the challenges. Retailers need to build apps which give their customers effective benefits, and which make the shopping experience pleasant, smooth and simple. To get an idea of what your customers are demanding, take a look at our suite of mobile applications, which will help you put your customers at the center of your business – giving you a chance at a slice of the $10,2 billion which less forward-thinking retailers are letting slip through their fingers.