A Few Mobile-Focused New Year's Resolutions for Retailers

By Bob Dever, Senior Director of Corporate Marketing —



Now that the wrapping paper has been recycled, we'd like to suggest a few new year's resolutions for retail executives who want to make the most of their fastest growing digital channel—mobile commerce. These suggestions are based, in part, on the results of the advanced social media analysis we commissioned over the 2011 holiday season:

• Focus on ease of use. Only a small percentage of mobile users feel the ease of use is what they'd expect. That means there's a huge opportunity to make ease of use a competitive advantage, whether for mobile sites or apps. Because of the limited real estate on phone screens, retailers must be as contextual as possible in what they display. It's important to make the shopper's path as easy to navigate as possible.
• Listen. Consumers have many ways of telling retailers (and everyone else) what works and what doesn't—app store reviews, Twitter, Facebook, etc. These consumers are sharing critical information. To improve in mobile retailers need to be open to learning and optimizing based on customer feedback.
• Move from doing things because they are cool to doing things that help customers buy on mobile devices. Think twice before opting for complex processes and always consider a mobile service from the customer's perspective. For instance, consider implementing forms that shift orientation from vertical to horizontal in order to enable easier data entry.
• Understand that the mobile channel is different. To ensure their customers are evangelists instead of naysayers, retailers need a clear understanding of the reality of the mobile experience they provide. They need to uncover the sources of customer struggle and quickly remedy them before additional users are affected. Remember, mobile devices lead to new behaviors—like rotating screens, swiping and varying “folds.” It’s important to correlate customer behaviors with device type in order to pinpoint device-specific issues.

To make 2012 a banner year for your mobile commerce, it's time to tune in to your mobile customers and take a proactive approach to addressing the things that can cause them to struggle across this rapidly growing channel.