• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, July 20, 2016

Retailers have websites and many have a mobile app, but most seem challenged in figuring out how to integrate their mobile approaches into their overall market strategy.

But that’s hardly the only challenge retailers face with mobile.

Lacking adequate budget and internal are also on the list, according to the State of Mobile Experience study, comprising a survey of 250 marketing and IT professionals in retail, insurance and finance conducted by PointSource.

The biggest challenge facing retailers is tying mobile into overall marketing. Here are the biggest challenges business leaders see in executing a successful mobile strategy, based

on the study:

• 54% -- Integrating mobile strategy into overall marketing strategy
• 42% -- Uniting marketing and IT departments
• 24% -- Lack of internal resource, such as staffing
• 20% -- Not having the budget to do so effectively
• 18% -- Lack of internal support from management for mobile
• 17% -- Not sure what a successful mobile strategy would be for the business
• 16% -- Lack of consumer insight

Mobile can be challenging for merchants, even after all these years. Interestingly, a number of business execs still are not even sure what a winning mobile strategy looks like, based on the survey.

But it’s not only linking a mobile approach into overall strategy; there also are issues of how to use mobile to more effectively serve customers.

A retailer can quickly lose a sale with a slow page load or technical glitch, both of which seem to happen quite a bit. Here are the pain points retailers see that their customers face:

• 48% -- Slow page load times
• 31% -- Difficult to navigate site or app
• 28% -- Malfunctioning app or website
• 28% -- Smaller images or videos
• 27% -- Not being able to pay via mobile

The good news is that many retailers are actively deploying mobile features to better engage with customers, although fewer than half are using a loyalty app and only a third are using push notifications.

Here are the mobile experiences currently being used to engage customers:

• 57% -- Mobile coupons
• 51% -- Mobile payments
• 40% -- Loyalty app
• 34% -- Push notifications
• 22% -- In-store geolocation technology

The surprisingly small (22%) usage of in-store geolocation technology is in itself a case for beacons, since many retailers are essentially flying blind with mobile shoppers in their stores.

On the positive side, mobile commerce studies consistently show that mobile shoppers want coupons and deals and the majority of retailers finally are getting in tune with that.

Even more positively is that most (91%) companies surveyed plan to invest in mobile this year and 77% of retail decision makers with a mobile presence rank mobile as seven or higher on a 10-point scale.

The majority (57%) of retailers are tracking mobile purchase history, so at least they can determine some buying patterns.

And as back-to-school spending starts to kick into gear, retailers should be tapping into mobile behavior in their stores, since that’s where most of the purchasing action will be.

The overwhelming majority (95%) of back-to-school shoppers plan to spend money in physical stores, according to the annual school shopping survey by the International Council of Shopping Centers.

That survey pegs the average spend at $657 total.

As retailers continue to deal with the challenges of mobile, consumers using their smartphones are figuring on their own the best approaches for them.

Some retailers are on the trail.