Native mobile apps top priority for most retailers

USA: Artisan, creator of the industry’s first Mobile Experience Management (MEM) platform, today released research results underscoring the importance of mobile apps in retail marketing and mobile commerce. The results also highlight retailers’ mobile investment and growth intentions for 2013.

In a survey of 200 retail executives responsible for mobile marketing and/or mobile commerce strategy, the majority of respondents said they expect significant mobile commerce growth in 2013 and view mobile apps as a top channel for engaging with consumers.

Survey highlights include:

* 56 percent of respondents plan on putting more resources into developing and implementing their mobile marketing/commerce strategies in 2013 than they did in 2012.

* 84 percent of respondents strongly agree or agree that they expect to see mobile commerce grow at a faster rate in their organization than online commerce did.

* 71 percent of respondents strongly agree or agree that native mobile apps will become the single most important touch point for engaging with their consumers in the next one to three years.

* 72 percent of respondents strongly agree or agree that investing in a native mobile app experience is one of their top three priorities in 2013.

* 66 percent of respondents strongly agree or agree that enhancing a native mobile app is more important that enhancing a mobile optimized website.

“Mobile apps represent a significant engagement and revenue opportunity, and this survey shows that retailers are intending to invest even more resources in making them an effective part of the overall marketing and sales strategy in 2013," said Bob Moul, CEO, Artisan. "The timing is ideal. The combination of consumer demand and new Mobile Experience Management platforms that enable real-time optimization means mobile apps have the potential – for the first time – to make a substantial impact in the retail market."

Anticipating a surge of consumer activity in 2013, the majority of retailers say they plan to invest greater resources in mobile marketing and commerce strategies this year. Fifty-six percent of survey respondents said they would spend more in 2013 compared to 2012, while 37 percent said resource investment would remain the same. Only seven percent stated they would invest fewer resources in mobile marketing and commerce than they did in the previous twelve months.

Retailers are also convinced that the ramp-up period for mobile commerce will be shorter than it was for e-commerce. Nearly half of survey respondents (49 percent) said they strongly agree with the statement that they expect to see mobile commerce grow at a faster rate in their organization than online commerce did. An additional 35 percent said they agreed with the statement, while only four percent disagreed.