Mobile Marketing

We discuss the data landscape, the best sources for data, and how to use it to increase revenues and capture new customers.

Retailers are generally doing a pretty good job of maximizing the desktop user experience. They also seem to understand the importance of the mobile user experience. For many, however, mobile is synonymous with smartphones, not tablets. Slow load times are the biggest point of frustration for mobile web users; consequently, the next step in the evolution of mobile retail is the recognition and adoption of best practices that deliver a faster, more reliable and consistent user experience. 

As millennials creep up on their highest earning years, retailers are increasingly focused on marketing to the demographic in the hopes of establishing a life-long relationship. Millenials were raised on technology and represent an opportunity for forward-thinking retailers to flex their omnichannel muscles. With that in mind, comScore published its Marketing to Millennials: 5 Things Every Marketer Should Know report, with findings from the company's research during November 2013. The study surveyed three demographics: 18-34 year olds (millennials), 35-54 year olds, and adults 55 years old and up. Here are the top five highlights from the report:

Corresponding with the growing number of mobile users among shoppers, retailers overwhelmingly agree mobile must be the No. 1 priority for their digital business in 2014. According to the 2014 Shop.org/Forrester Research State of Retailing Online survey, which surveyed 70 retailers in October and November 2013, more than half (53 percent) marked mobile efforts as a top priority, identifying responsive design, mobile site optimization and tablet redesign among key focus areas. 

With light foot traffic dragging down retail sales over the holidays even as m-commerce continues to grow, retailers are struggling with effectively tapping mobile to bring customers in-store. For the past couple of years, retailers and mobile marketing services providers having been talking up mobile's ability to enable hyperlocal, personalized engagements that can drive nearby customers in-store. However, with many retailers seeing few shoppers in their stores over the holidays, have they just not figured out the right formula yet for leveraging mobile to drive in-store traffic or is the convenience provided by m-commerce trumping the need for real-world transactions? 

In a world increasingly filtered through Instagram, a carefully crafted photo shoot starts to look dated. That's why retailers are rushing to crowdsource their product shots, harvesting a stream of photos from social platforms to help sell everything from West Elm couches to Coach handbags. The photos are typically curated in galleries, where each picture is linked to a page selling the product. Increasingly, the amateur images are also showing up directly on product pages, next to professionally styled pictures.

Macy's chief marketing officer said at Mobile Marketer's Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2014 conference that as the retailer looks to make a harder push into personalization this year, the combination of QR codes with image recognition still makes the mobile barcode relevant. During the opening keynote session, Macy's: Going from Department Store to America's Omnichannel Store, Martine Reardon laid out how the retailer has built up its mobile strategy in the past few years and also spoke about upcoming initiatives. 

Retailers face an intensely competitive marketplace with unprecedented challenges and opportunities. With the emergence of a greater variety of retail channels, an abundance of product options and easy online price comparisons, consumers now demand greater service and lower prices. The ability to ensure that the right product is available at the right place and at the right time is absolutely critical, and merchants that can act more quickly tend to come out on top. 

What did Santa bring online retailers, this Christmas? They must have been good, as the day delivered a 16.5% boost in sales, year-over-year. That's according to the latest IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark data, which saw mobile traffic reach its highest levels this season. Overall, mobile accounted for 48% of all online traffic, which represented a 28.3% increase compared to the same period last year.

Despite the sharp increase in usage, challenges have arisen for mobile shoppers this holiday season. Slow-loading websites can prove a major headache. In fact, 20 percent of those surveyed prefer a traffic jam to a site loading at glacial pace. So, how can retailers keep mobile shoppers frustration-free during the frenetic final days of this year's holiday season (especially as a nasty Mother Nature makes it difficult to trek to stores)? Here are six tips for retailers to ensure ideal mobile website performance during the most wonderful — and busy — time of the year: