The Need for Retailers to Go Mobile

Now, a huge number of online and offline retailers are shifting their businesses from native web to mobile web. Smartphone usages have become common these days, which has triggered up world’s top retailers to chill on the ‘going mobile’ criteria. Few of the America’s top retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, Target and Best Buy are gaining profits and benefits by means of a significant mobile traffic. The major reason behind this happening is 4 in every 5 smartphone users access retail ecommerce sites via their mobile device averagely in a month’s time.

comScore a most familiar Internet trend tracking firm has reported in a recent study that 85.9 million Americans aged 18 or elder shop online from a mobile web browser or an application running on android, iOS or the RIM operating systems. The comScore data however didn’t include the Windows mobile usage report.

Retailers who make higher mobile traffic

According to the report, over 49.6 million mobile visitors were exploiting the Amazon sites for their retailing purposes. This is approximately equal to 46 percent of all smartphone users in the US, according to comScore. The same way, about 32.6 million mobile visitors use eBay sites to search their favorite product catalogs and this is almost 30.6 percent of the total American smartphone users.

The report in July 2012 also says that Apple had almost covered 17.7 million mobile visitors so far. Over 16.3 million mobile visitors have accessed Walmart to look over the various products they offer. Target also has made more than 10 million mobile visitors in July 2012 according to comScore.

The one thing that is clear with these stats is all top retailers focus on going mobile. If this is the case with top retailers, why not your’s being a small retail store emerge big by going mobile? Here are few of the expected 2013 trend factors which would mark retail industry’s growth in terms of going mobile.

Small and Mid-Size Retailers! Increase your Mobile Focus
Shop.org conducted a recent survey on September last year which founded out that a typical retailer in U.S intended to invest about $207,000 into mobile initiatives. It also found that about 60 percent of retailers had done some kind of mobile optimization of their websites. The report has also made sense that as mobile grows, retailers too grow. Retailers will be hopefully driving into innovative discount models and integrate into loyalty programs by optimizing their websites to smartphones which their customers are commonly having access to.

Discounts and coupons
Though the concept has already emerged with native sites, it won’t be taking too long to reach the mobile website panels. It might be something like a new discount coupon mobile application or a pick and pay concept which retailers has just launched. There are also chances to integrate mobile sites with some kinda mobile special offers (which are offered exclusively for mobile users only) or coupon third party aggregators.

Sites embedded with latest technology
If there could be a latest technological emergence this year, then sure it would make a stand in mobile shopping apps also. Apps that use photo / scan technology and technologies of image recognition and augmented reality will be in use by retailing industry later this year.

Mobilize your site ahead of your competitors
Mobile websites are gaining popularity each day and hence it is important that you need to stay ahead of your competitors. Mobilize your sites before your competitors attract your customers. People really hesitate to visit a site that has tiny text and hard to navigate. This takes long to load which eventually leads customers to neglect the idea of making a purchase. Banking, car and electronics manufacturers are rapidly cottoning on to create mobile platforms to suit the medium.

Go mobile even if you hate to!
It is not the concern to think about whether you like it or not. Of course, it is your business and it is all your right to decide whether to go mobile or not. But as far as 2013 is concerned, remember that this Trojan year for brands has got something to with your business via mobile devices. There are so many ways you could start with. Give your customers a free first chapter option. This could really gain your business few of their likes, just like the one you receive in social networks.

Mobile to become future’s TV
I would hardly say it ‘to become’. It has already happened and mobile is currently the TV, laptop and media to several millions all throughout the world. Using phones and tablets to watch TV will surely reach greater heights in 2013. This could fall in result to the use of automated content recognition, TV ad detection applications, TV messaging or similar other latest technology. Besides this, users will share, rate and review on Facebook, poll or crowd source on Twitter interacting and integrate screens in real time.

This Could Be the Year of the App-Store
With result to the Gartner report, around 81 billion apps will be downloaded globally in 2013, which is twice the value occurred in 2012. With the emergence of helpful app aggregators, this year would surely be the year of the app store, taking mobile application development industry to greater levels, the same way as that of the retailers market. Maximizing the sales management and to retain better customers using Retail Mobile Point-of-Sale is new trend in mobile app development which helps the retailers to reduce even the denominational loss and this helps them grow wider to reach the market.

Conclusion

All of the top American retailers listed in the com Score study have made focused efforts to engage mobile shoppers. Though these retailers also focus on advertising and marketing budgets, it is the mobile channel efforts which make them boost their mobile traffic. Retailers who are best aware of how consumers are engaging in mobile shopping behaviors and design their strategies therefore will be best rewarded in making a perfect mobile move.