Specialty Retailers Lagging In Mobile Development
Even as the big-box stores and major retail chains scramble to polish up their app and mobile Web strategies, the overwhelming majority of small and
medium-sized specialty retailers appear to be off the mobile grid. E-commerce solutions provider Briteskies did its own survey of 75 online retailers in the small-to-medium specialty segment across
multiple categories to find that only 17%, or 13 of the 75, has mobile-optimized sites.
Companies like Fry’s Electronics, Omaha Steaks and Windsor Fine Jewelry were found to have no mobile Web destination. The relative handful of mobile-optimized experiences came from companies like ThinkGeek, Sally Beauty Supply and Springfree Trampoline.
It is not entirely surprising that this middle tier of verticals is where larger retail providers sat vis-a-vis the mobile Web two years ago. Briteskies surveyed popular retailers in the electronics, pet supplies, health and beauty, educational supplies, food, gifts, clothing, sporting goods, hardware, and automotive areas. But all of these retailers in the 75-company review are very active online and in e-commerce already. Many of these companies feel stymied by the move to mobile, says Briteskies Director of E-commerce J. Michael Moores. “Many retailers struggle not only to define their mobile strategy but also to ensure that the content and design in the mobile channel support that strategy, all working within the limitations that exist with some e-commerce platforms,” he states.
For many companies the actual e-commerce piece of the mobile design is the choke point. Ensuring that mobile experiences match the online experience can be a challenge. And in many cases a mobile-optimized site reverts to the non-optimized experience when it kicks the user over to the payment system.
Recent Mobile Marketing Daily Articles
-
B&N Nook: Let's Try That Again May 6, 8:17 a.m.
Barnes & Noble is trying to come at the tablet market yet again this week with ... -
Robert Scoble Doesn't Want To Take His Google Glass Device Off...Ever April 29, 9:05 a.m.
Longtime industry analyst Robert Scoble has been giving his readers some unique insight and perspective on ... -
Smartphone Shipments Pass The Halfway Milestone April 26, 9:20 a.m.
While smartphone shipments and ownership in the U.S. achieved a majority penetration a while ago, the ... -
Twitter Does Stand-Up In New Comedy Central Project April 24, 9:08 a.m.
Mel Brooks on Twitter? The fabled 2000-year-old man will in fact get his own handle and ... -
Summly Built Into Updated Yahoo App April 23, 12:50 p.m.
Yahoo made a splash last month when it acquired Summly, the startup launched by U.K.-based 17-year-old ... -
ACLU Joins The Fight Against Android Fragmentation? April 22, 9 a.m.
Developers frustrated by the fragmented Android hardware terrain got an unlikely ally last week in the ... -
LinkedIn Launches Major Mobile App Upgrade, Leads With Content April 18, 9 a.m.
While Facebook and Twitter have been following the majority of their users as they migrate to ... -
Google Adds Quick Links, Quick Views To Mobile Search Results April 17, 8:21 a.m.
In an effort to make mobile search results for users closer to the information they seek, ... -
Facebook Home Features Coming To iOS April 17, 8:21 a.m.
Facebook Home may not be coming to iOS, but some features of the software overlay for ... -
LinkedIn Buys Pulse For $90 Million April 12, 2:10 p.m.
LinkedIn on Thursday confirmed that it had acquired newsreader app Pulse as it seeks to offer more content ...
Be the first to comment on "Specialty Retailers Lagging In Mobile Development "
Leave a Comment