Click Labs Report:How Retail Leverages Mobile

Table of Contents:

Transforming Retail via Mobile.......................................................4

Mobile Apps vs. Mobile-Optimized Websites for Retail..................6

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales.................8

How Mobile Can Make Processes More Efficient..........................14

How Mobile Can Help Get Better Data and Better Results...........16

Get Started with App Development..............................................17

How Retail Leverages MobileAs revenues and traffic through mobile grow, retailers have to

factor in connected customers while making strategic decisions. As

is evident from the mobile ad spend in the first quarter of 2013,

many of you are already doing that. According to Millennial Media

and comScore’s latest Mobile Intel Series, retail ranks 4th among

global brand verticals, behind telecommunications, entertainment

and finance.

Customer behaviors are seeing profound changes – particularly

regarding the use of technology as part of the shopping process.

They are adopting mobile at an exponential rate and your

competitors are taking advantage of the trend.

Transforming Retail via Mobile

Today’s retail stores are likely to be transformed through mobile so as to enhance the customer experience in-store. Customers are engaged through interactions, influencers and information to transform retail.

Problems:

-­‐Rising human resource costs-­‐Commoditization of retail-­‐Diminishing margins in retail

Transforming Retail via MobileSolutions:

-­‐Increasing efficiency by implementing staff-side mobile apps-­‐Increasing brand loyalty and stickiness through consumer-side mobile apps-­‐Greater margins through economies of scale because of higher sales

Mobile Apps vs. Mobile-Optimized Websites for Retail

You should look at getting improved or new apps developed to provide significant information and tools to help influence shoppers during each phase of the decision making process – especially in-store. You should have apps customizable in accordance with consumer needs varying by shopping trips and products.

A mobile-optimized version of your website may not be sufficient for a number of smartphone users. A customized and dedicated app can lead to more valuable and loyal shoppers.

Apps are tailored for mobile platforms and include more of mobile-device-centric user interfaces.

Examples

For instance, Amazon, CDW and Gap have mobile websites as well as related apps. However, the apps offer a few features not available on the mobile websites. Among the helpful features on the apps is the option to add sliders for product features and promotions.

Also, recent research by Compuware suggests that consumers prefer apps a lot more (85%) than mobile websites. The majority of them (55%) see the apps as more convenient to use, nearly half of them (48%) think that apps are faster and a significant proportion (40%) find the apps easier to browse through than mobile websites.

Mobile Apps vs. Mobile-Optimized Websites for Retail

Get a customized and dedicated app built to attract more valuable and loyal shoppers. Such an app can help you retain control of the customers’ experiences and the information the consumers can access during each phase of the shopping process.

The conversion rate for shoppers using retailers’ dedicated apps in the U.S. was found to be 21% higher than those not using such apps – mostly on account of a more relevant and customized shopping experience – according to recent research by Deloitte Consulting LLP.

According to a recent report by ABI Research, the retail indoor location market is expected to touch $5 billion by 2018.

When they are at the point of purchasing or close to it, customers are more likely to use smartphones for store-related shopping rather than as passive shopping devices.

Understand customers and the way they shop in specific product categories. The insights gained can be used for development of appropriate mobile app capabilities to support the needs of smartphone-owning shoppers.

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales

“Provide Useful In-Store Features

In addition to enabling customers to make credit card payments through mobile devices, offer indoor mapping associated with local inventory, among other location services. Consumers can then easily find out, using their smartphones, whether the items they wish to purchase are available and, if so, in which part of the store. This should help boost sales and revenue.

Ultimately, expect to build your own mobile ad networks in-store.

According to a recent report by EKN Research, among retailers offering mobile apps, only 10% offer in-store features at present and are still not close to leveraging all the capabilities of mobile devices.

In-store experience, customer engagement, delivery and payment are the areas where you leverage mobility.

Ultimately, expect to build your own mobile ad networks in-store

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales

If you are an Asian retailer:

You will have to take into account the phenomenon of mobile ‘showrooming’, which is seen primarily in the U.S at present, with Asia expected to be the world leader in e-commerce in the next 3 years, according to experts. Since physical retail outlets are where consumers first engage and interact with brands and products, such outlets engage customers and promote mobile usage in-store.

Invest in extending the touchpoints already in existence, such as CRM and affinity, into mobile. This would not require a significant point-of-sale (POS) expense.

…Asia expected to be the world leader in e-commerce in the next 3 years.

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales

The small-and-medium enterprises that own most retail businesses can drive affinity with customers using mobile and then target ‘anytime commerce’. Thus, drive purchases in non-traditional space, as author Gary Schwartz writes in his book ‘Fast Shopper, Slow Store’. According to him, the SMEs can ‘creatively steal’ from other regions and apply the lessons learned to local opportunities in this manner.

As consumers become accustomed to making credit card payments through mobile devices, the huge market potential for mobile commerce becomes accessible in a region with a mobile penetration rate among the highest in the world.

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales

If you are an American retailer:

According to recent research by Deloitte Consulting LLP, smartphones influence 5.1% of retail store sales in the U.S. In the next 3 years, mobile’s influence is expected to grow to 17%-21% of total retail sales.A dedicated mobile app can help boost in-store conversions significantly and insulate customers from outside influences. The Deloitte study found that smartphones exert more influence over in-store average order size and in-store conversion than on direct sales.

In the next 3 years, mobile’s influence is expected to grow to 17%-21% of total retail sales.

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales

Analysis revealed that after 6 months of device ownership, use of smartphones for store-related shopping rises by about 40%, i.e., once people start, they tend to explore all possibilities of use.

Once they begin to use their devices in a certain kind of store, they tend to be consistent for more than half of their visits to stores of that type.

In the next 3 years, the mobile functionality for retail apps is expected to improve, along with increased adoption by shoppers and rise in smartphone penetration.

By 2016, mobile’s influence is expected to exceed even the fast-growing e-commerce channel sales in the country.

How to Leverage Mobile Retail Apps to Increase Sales

How Mobile Can Make Processes More EfficientMobile data access enhances store workers’ productivity. It increases connectivity among departments, reduces paperwork and streamlines workflow, in addition to providing more control at various stages of processes.

It helps improve decision making at all organizational levels – anywhere and anytime – thus helping to improve efficiency. Mobile improves collaboration and communication to streamline business processes.

Mobility moves computing power to the point of work from the desktop. So errors are reduced and tasks are performed faster throughout the operational chain as workers have capabilities for advanced data capture, such as GPS, bar code scanning, image capture and RFID. Within the same time period, your workers handle more tasks at sorting centers, warehouses, retail sale counters, and for delivery operations.

Personnel for delivery create attempted delivery notices, process cash-on-demand deliveries, and instantly send proof of delivery, leading to process efficiency improvements and better customer service.

How Mobile Can Make Processes More EfficientConsider Cost and Accessibility

To begin with, prioritize and evaluate your business needs. You willhave to make a substantial capital investment, particularly as allemployees will require mobile devices. So cost and accessibility willbe significant factors to consider.

How Mobile Can Help Get Better Data and Better ResultsMobile lets you find out about the way consumers shop in specific product categories. It provides secure access to critical information about customers and their shopping patterns in a rather unobtrusive way, thus leading to better results.

•Utilize ‘heatmaps’ to find out more about how people shop and what they buy to make the shopping experience unique by making it customizable. The transaction data collected through mobile can thus aid personalization.

•Use indoor location technology in the short term to learn more about your customers. However, there is not a consensus yet on whether to use phone sensors, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for indoor location marketing.

•Map content to the distinctive characteristics of particular shoppers and the devices they use, perhaps through a cloud-based app.

Provide unique results and dynamic categories individual to users through an app designed to utilize a combination of machine learning, natural-language processing, social and web-wide data.

Get Started with App DevelopmentYou will need three kinds of user interfaces, each of which will be equally important.

•Customers•Field Staff•Admin/managers

The enhanced customer experience should help you retain customers and create new opportunities for revenue generation, in addition to greater field staff and admin/manager productivity.

Get the Click Labs Advantage

Get Started with App DevelopmentThe app development company you choose should ideally provide ‘end-to-end’ service, from conceptualizing the list of functionalities that your customers need to analytics, cloud-based deployment and hosting.  When you’ve decided to get a mobile app developed, get in touch with a company that has credible experience in developing mobile apps for retail.  Some, such as Click Labs, offer free consultation and quotes.  We will support you through the stages of conceptualization, design, development and launch, in case you choose Click Labs to develop an app for your retail business.