Retail is changing fast as mobile technology becomes increasingly important for brick-and-mortar stores. Today, customers use their smartphones to check prices and inventory, see store-specific promotions, and much more, according to our annual retail survey.
To find out how the current mobile experiences of America’s top retailers stack up with consumer expectations, we dispatched “secret shoppers” to their stores and used our proprietary Mobile Maturity Model to evaluate each brand’s mobile capabilities.
Here are the top three takeaways from this year’s study:
1. The Gap between What Customers Want and What Retailers Are Providing Is Significant
Based on a total of 240 possible points, this year’s highest score was 131 – only slightly more than 50% of possible points, but 20 points higher than last year’s top score. With 74% of the general population and 88% of Mobile Reliants* indicating that the in-store experience influences where they shop, we hypothesize that the retailers who get it will win.
2. Leaders Are Pulling Ahead – and Leaving the Rest of Retail in the Dust
The top five retailers continued to widen the gap with their competition, improving 16 points year-over-year compared to only a five-point increase by the average retailer. While the leaders understand, and are investing in today’s on-the-go buying trends, most are still behind in delivering what consumers desire when it comes to improving the in-store experience.
3. Meet Expectations, Data Points to Fact That Retailers Will Be Rewarded
The usage of mobile devices in retail purchasing is accelerating, and expectations are outpacing improvements in customer experience. Shoppers see increasing value in apps designed specifically to support in-store shopping. 80% of the general population and 91% of Mobile Reliants* say such tools would improve the overall in-store shopping experience.
To hear more about the insights from our second annual benchmarking study and global research, watch our full presentation from NRF in January or download the full report.
*Mobile Reliants is the shopper segment with the most advanced mobile adoption, now accounting for 1 in 3 US shoppers.
