Retailers and supply chain companies may need to revamp their mobile technology.
According to PointSource’s “The State of the Mobile Experience Report,” key industry members said the current state of their company’s mobile experience is unsatisfying to users. Only 37 percent of retailers and 21 percent of supply chain companies ranked their company’s mobile presence at 90 percent or above.
Even though retailers and supply chain companies know that having a mobile presence is simply not enough in today’s competitive market, they still struggle to fix their mobile user experience with changing consumer demands.
Retailers are struggling to address value and implementation logistics. Both problems don’t even include the user experience itself. Fifty-four percent of retailers said their biggest challenge was bringing together mobile strategy and overall marketing strategy. Only a third of retailers are using mobile to track purchasing history, while a majority are missing the opportunity to use mobile as a catalyst for improved customer experience.
Supply chain companies find it challenging to focus on tailored mobile offerings. Seventy percent of supply chain respondents said a tailored company mobile app experienced better customer satisfaction. In regard to tailored company mobile apps, 63 percent of supply chain companies reported stronger customer connections and 59 percent said internal processes improved greatly.
Regardless of industry differences, both retailers and supply chain companies are financially backing up their mobile user experiences. Across all industries surveyed (retail, supply chain, insurance, finance), 88 percent or more of respondents said their companies are investing in mobile this year. One-fourth also said they plan to spend more than $500,000 to improve their mobile user experiences. Seventy-one percent of all industry respondents said the top reason for investment was to meet customers’ mobile demands.
“A company’s ability to engage, convert and retain consumers on mobile will depend on their commitment to the user experience,” said PointSource COO Stephanie Trunzo. “The user experience is increasingly the critical differentiator as the mobile landscape becomes overpopulated with options, giving consumers the power to easily shop multiple offerings, decreasing switching costs and reducing the stickiness of previous brand loyalty.”