In mobile retailing, one size does not fit all

By FIONA SWERDLOW, HEAD OF RESEARCH, SHOP.ORG | Published: NOVEMBER 27, 2013

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Anyone who spent time at this year’s Shop.org Annual Summit came away with a plethora of ideas, best practices, advice and lessons about modern retail – and mobile was at the top of the list. Since mobile retailing really got off the ground just three years ago, it’s still an area filled with questions for retailers: When should responsive design be used? Are consumers more likely to use a mobile-optimized website or an app? Is showrooming a threat or an opportunity? And where do mobile payments fit into the equation?

Shutterfly’s Anne Berger (center) discusses proven tactics for leveraging mobile to drive sales beyond m-commerce with Rue La La’s Arash Hadipanah (left) and Mad Mobile’s Greg Schmitzer.

To wrap up the many mobile discussions at the summit, Mad Mobile President Greg Schmitzer, Shutterfly Senior Director of E-commerce Anne Berger and Rue La La Senior Mobile Product Manager Arash Hadipanah tackled how retailers should think about their mobile strategy for 2014 and beyond. The mobile retailing experiences for Rue La La and Shutterfly exemplify how these fundamental questions apply to retailers. But each example is unique, and both emphasized that the answers must be based on the characteristics for each retailer’s unique customers, products, strategies and objectives.

Embracing these differences, both executives suggested these ways for retailers to analyze several areas as part of their mobile strategy for next year and beyond:

Organizational support for a mobile strategy. Hadipanah says a company should evaluate how mobile can improve tasks, processes and services throughout the business, in turn improving the overall customer experience. Hadipanah and his team proactively go to internal stakeholders to understand their needs for mobile and to solicit feedback. His team also holds regular meetings to ensure that their mobile expertise and priorities have internal buy-in. At Shutterfly, Berger says a “mobile czar” oversees mobile planning and initiatives across their multiple brands – although for now the app team currently operates separately.

Obtaining a single view of analytics is challenging. Similar to desktop-based e-commerce, analytics are an important component of and guide to a retailer’s mobile strategy. But a complete view of mobile data may not reside all in the same place: Hadipanah and Berger review different sets of analytics for their app, mobile site and desktop presence. Both agreed that they need a way to merge these sets of analytics to get a holistic picture of each company’s mobile customers and mobile business.

Testing and learning are a must. Berger suggested that retailers “think about the new functionality that you can use that the desktop doesn’t allow” – such as the camera in the smartphone and tablet. As devices proliferate (including wearable devices such as Google Glass), retailers need to continue to optimize for those as well. Rigorous A/B testing is just as important for mobile as it is for desktop.

Mobile can provide superior in-store service. The panel pointed to Tory Burch utilizing mobile for store staff to create customer profiles and wish lists as a big step to providing superior, personalized service. Another example might be using FaceTime to communicate on the spot with an associate in another store who has particular expertise with a product, category or brand. Geolocation, QR codes that connect customer to online assets, and mobile app push notifications are other features retailers should analyze as opportunities to enhance the in-store experience.

Wearable devices are approaching – but let your data tell you how, when and where. 2014 could well be the year that interactive eyewear and wristwatches break out as the next frontier in mobile. But there are certainly many unknowns around them. Schmitzer recommended that retailers who try to anticipate how to staff and budget for these technologies should watch their mobile data intently first. It will be important to understand how customers are adopting these devices over time, and to monitor their use and expectations for each.

via Shop.org Blog http://blog.shop.org/2013/11/27/in-mobile-retailing-one-size-does-not-fit-all/