Mobile apps elevate consumer shopping experiences and increase customer loyalty.
A new special report from Boston Retail Partners (BRP) has revealed that new or upgraded mobile apps and Websites are top commerce priorities for retailers.
The 2015 BRP SPECIAL REPORT: “Mobile Commerce – The Future of Retail” reveals that mobile commerce has become a valuable revenue stream for retailers. However, retailers need to address security risks and privacy concerns as they prepare for the anticipated shift of fraud from stores to e-commerce and mobile commerce sites.
“The mobile device is the cash register of the future, the sales associate of the future and the wallet of the future – or rather the now,” said Ken Morris, principal, Boston Retail Partners. “The opportunities for mobile to influence retail sales – via direct sales through a mobile website or app or through in-store possibilities to influence sales – clearly represent the new frontier transforming retailers’ operations.”
This special report highlights key findings from BRP’s 2015 E-Commerce Benchmark Survey validating the importance of mobile capabilities driven by consumer demand. Mobile commerce is growing at a faster rate than any other channel and is the future of retail. As a retail imperative, mobile devices are creating many potential opportunities and risks for retailers to consider:
Mobile Websites versus Apps – While a mobile responsive Website is a requirement for all retailers with e-commerce, a well-designed mobile app can elevate the shopping experience and increase customer loyalty and sales.
In-store Possibilities – Beyond line busting, there are many other mobile opportunities for retailers to enhance the customer experience and drive incremental sales, such as customer identification, geolocation, guided selling, customer Wi-Fi and cross-channel transactions.
Security Risks – History has shown that when EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) is implemented in a country, store fraud is reduced and online fraud rises dramatically. Now that many retailers have implemented EMV, the focus should be on locking-down security for e-commerce and m-commerce.
Privacy Concerns – Retailers are concerned over how best to protect their customers’ privacy while still gathering location, preference and purchase data.
Integration Challenges – With the addition of mobile channels, the integration, dissemination and consolidation of all pertinent data is compounded, making it more challenging for retailers to provide customers a seamless experience with the brand. A shift from silos to a holistic paradigm must occur as retailers upgrade their mobile capabilities.
