L2
Think Tank, "helping brands navigate the digital landscape," recently
put out a report entitled "Intelligence Report: Mobile" where they assessed 100 luxury brands
for their "mobile intelligence" — readiness to serve the mobile users
in terms of site optimization for mobile use, mobile applications, social media
and marketing support.
The
brands assessed included:
●
29 fashion
brands
●
24 watches
and jewelry brands
●
18 beauty
brands
●
20
hospitality brands
●
9 retail
brands.
The findings
L2
found out, among other things, that:
●
Even if 40%
of tablet owners use their tablets while watching TV (and more than a quarter
of these owners search for product information after seeing product
advertisements), only 57% of the brands
support mobile by having mobile optimized sites and mobile ordering or
mobile commerce (m-commerce) functionality, e.g. Paypal payment and one-click
checkout functionality similar to that offered by leading online
(desktop/laptop oriented) retailers. This even with the fact that 9 out of 10
smartphone owners use their phones to look for local products and services and
a quarter of website visitors come from tablets and smartphones.
●
Even if
one-fifth of the world's search traffic come from mobile, only one-fourth (25%) of the luxury brands surveyed have search ads
optimized for mobile.
●
2 out of 5
(40%) brands released a mobile app in the past 12 months but then 27% of the 238 apps examined have never
been updated. Colin Gilbert, lead researcher at L2 Think Tank said
developing yet another mobile app "frequently delivers low ROI" —
especially when a mobile app is left stagnant.
Mea Culpa
Here
then, are the mistakes committed by most of the luxury brands featured in the
L2 Think Tank survey:
●
Not responding to mobile trends by optimizing
their websites for mobile
and m-commerce;
●
Not serving search ads targeting mobile users
●
Developing an app with no clear long-term app
vision and support, eventually
leaving their app to languish.
Fortunately,
the 9 retail brands didn't commit the mistake of abandoning their apps. Instead
they frequently updated their apps, added more functionalities like mobile
ordering (shopping cart), and asked for more user feedback to constantly
improve their app and service.
Why?
Why
did the majority of the luxury brands neglect mobile-friendliness and mobile
advertising? Considering that one out of five consumers check out prices via
mobile while browsing in actual stores; or over two-thirds of them end up
buying in-store?
Why
did most niche and luxurious brands neglect apps while the retail brands took
care of their apps? And that despite the fact that 80% of the time spent on
smartphones is spent in mobile apps?
The
answer is probably similar to the behavior of brands in the dining industry.
The 'luxury brands' of the dining industry — high prestige fine dining
restaurants don't usually provide shopping cart functionality in their apps.
They wish to maintain a certain unhurried ambience and don't rely on high
customer volume. The fast-food end of the market, on the other hand, do rely on
fast turnovers and in-app selection and payment. And that would make for very
diligent app development and maintenance. It's just a question of priorities
really.
What now?
This means that mobile ordering apps are probably not for every niche. However, even if you provide a mobile
ordering system or not, there's no excuse for neglecting a mobile presence.
Always remember that people are flocking to mobile and, if you want your
customers to find you, you'll maintain a presence where they are: in the mobile
world.
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