Nearly three-quarters of retailers are exploring mobile strategies, but 62% of retailers have either not yet begun or are only in the early stages of planning their mobile strategy, according to a recent Shop.org survey.
With mobile commerce's emergence, the National Retail Federation unveiled the first version of the Mobile Retailing Blueprint exploring how mobile can be used to assist marketing, ecommerce and store operations with a special section on implementation planning and technology.
The report notes that by the end of 2009, mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide numbered 4.6 billion. By 2015, shoppers around the world are expected to use their mobile phones to purchase goods and services worth close to $120 billion. That amount represents about 8% of the total e-commerce market. In addition, payment for goods or services and money transfers initiated from a mobile phone will reach almost $630 billion by 2014, up from $170 billion this year.
The report states that mobile phones are changing the way retailers conduct business, particularly given their ability to help retailers connect with customers regardless of location or time of day. While considered the fourth retail channel, mobile is also an enabler for the other three channels.
“Mobile retail represents both a new way to shop and a new payment paradigm,” the report states. “Consumers with a mobile phone can locate the nearest Starbuck’s, browse the available coffees, build a drink to be picked up on arrival, and pay using a Starbuck’s card on the phone. Whole Foods Markets customers puzzled by the use of an ingredient can use their phones to find and display recipes using that ingredient and even restrict their choices to cater to special food allergies or requirements, such as gluten or lactose intolerance.
Shoppers headed for Target can search a friend’s gift registry for the perfect gift, locate the nearest store that has that specific item in stock (right down to the department and aisle location of the item within that store), and check the gift off the registry list-all on a mobile phone. Phones can store and display loyalty, reward, and club membership cards (which most retailers scan directly from the screen) and match a health condition with the correct over-the-counter medication.”
A complimentary copy of the 176-page blueprint is now available through the Mobile Retail Initiative’s web site at www.nrf.com/mobile.
NRF President and CEO Matt Shay, said in a statement, “As smartphones and other mobile devices become more technologically advanced, so too will retailers with the help of this collaborative research.”
