Shop.org Report: Retailers Remain Conservative on Mobile

Despite the buzz on the exhibit floor at Shop.org's Annual Summit in Denver yesterday, retailers remain prudent in their mobile financial investments, according to the 2012 Shop.org/Forrester Research State Of Retailing Online survey that was released here.

Fifty percent of retailers surveyed said they spent less than $100,000 on smartphone investments in 2011, and 74 percent spent the same on tablet initiatives. One year later, those numbers remain conservative, though companies are indicating a desire to grow their investments in tablet initiatives. On average, retailers plan to invest $207,000 in 2012, compared to an average of $55,000 spent in 2011.

"It's easy to forget that mobile retailing is still in its infancy, and unlike what we saw with e-commerce 10 short years ago, mobile is almost entirely consumer-driven," said Vicki Cantrell, Shop.org's executive director, in a company press release. "As mobile grows, so too will retailers’ investments in technologies that make sense for their shopper. But to get to that level of commitment, retailers must first take smart, calculated steps to maximize the mobile shopping experience both now and in the future."

The survey did find, however, that more retailers have entered the mobile playing field over the last year. In fiscal year 2011, 18 percent of those surveyed said their company made no investment in tablet initiatives and 14 percent said the same for smartphone initiatives. This year, only 9 percent of companies say they will make no investments in tablets or smartphones.

As part of their mobile investments, and in addition to the consumer-facing technologies that they're leveraging, retailers are focusing on in-store technologies such as mobile point of sale and perfecting site optimization features for smartphone and tablet-toting shoppers.

According to the survey, 45 percent of companies have already or are planning to implement e-receipts in their stores in the next two years, and more than half (57 percent) say they have or will have mobile point-of-sale options for their stores within the next two years.

With the majority of retailers’ web traffic coming from web browsers, even when a mobile app exists and is promoted, retailers are focusing on mobile site optimization features as a more cost-effective solution than building apps. Six in 10 companies surveyed said they have a special mobile site that's optimized for web browsers.

When asked what their company's greatest internal challenges are as they relate to deploying and managing their mobile initiatives, the answers ran deep. Sixty percent said their business objectives for mobile initiatives are unclear and another 40 percent said a lack of experience in other areas such as designing for smartphone and tablet formats are presenting challenges. Additionally, 36 percent said obtaining adequate budget for mobile initiatives, including staff, is a top concern.

"While consumers are rapidly adopting smartphones and tablets, there's no shortage of companies eager to provide mobile offerings to retailers," said Sucharita Mulpuru, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, in a company press release. "Retail executives are taking a measured view of the immediate benefits of these efforts — in part because of the myriad of challenges that must be considered when investing in mobile for their company."