Companies faced with implementing any form of mobile commerce
already have a lot on their plate.
Businesses are dealing with issues relating to product pricing, new technologies and product information in addition to their mobile apps and websites, based
on a new report.
The third annual retail benchmark survey Retail Insight: Fulfilling Consumer Expectations, conducted by Retail Systems Research (RSR) for SPS Commerce, identified a host of
issues companies face on the quest to meet evolving customer needs.
The report is based on a survey from executives from a range of departments at 214 companies, 65% of which were
manufacturers, vendors or suppliers and 28% of which were retailers or distributors.
When it comes to external forces, most businesses are concerned about the economy while almost a third say
they are concerned about mobile commerce, up from 19% a year ago. Here are the top external forces they see affecting their business in the next five years.
- 67% -- Economy
- 66%
-- Consumer buying preferences
- 38% -- New consumer technology
- 31% -- Omni-channel retailing
- 30% -- Mobile commerce
- 24% -- Social media
- 20% --
Globalization
- 19% -- Politics, regulations
An issue facing retailers is how they sell direct to their customers, which half of them do. Here are the methods, based on the RSR
study:
- 47% -- Our commerce site
- 16% -- Our store
- 8% -- Our mobile app
- 1% -- Our kiosk
As yet another indication that price matters to
shoppers, which tops the list of most mobile shopping studies, 85% of retailers, vendors and logistics providers say it is what consumers want. Here are the factors they say have impacted consumer
buying decisions in the last year.
- 85% -- Pricing
- 62% -- Product availability
- 53% - User reviews
- 52% -- Product information
- 41% --
Promotions
- 38% -- Access to helpful employees in store
- 34% -- Images/video
- 31% - Breadth of product assortment
- 28% -- Visibility in social media
conversations
- 23% -- Proximity-based promotions
- 13% -- Digital experience within the store
The reality of meeting customer expectations by multiple methods is that
merchants have a lot to do already.
When asked what’s hindering their omni-strategy and execution the majority (52%) said other priorities, more than a third (35%) said insufficient
budget and almost a third (31%) said cultural resistance to change.
The roadblocks to mobile commerce are well beyond the technology.
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