IREU Top500 Mobile & Cross-channel Report: personalize, personalize, personalize
In the second IREU Top500 Performance Dimension Report, the focus is on mobile and cross-channel retail.
One device, in particular, has transformed this area: the smartphone.
See how retailers are using mobile in their business models as they trade at scale in this continent, and how the use of mobile varies between markets.
But first, some quotes from specialists in this field:
Steven Ledgerwood, UK managing director at Emarsys:
Mobile is crucial. Any retailer or brand that neglects mobile risks missing
out on substantial revenue, it’s as simple as that.
We’ve been saying this for some time: personalise, personalise, personalize. Attention spans are extremely limited on mobile. Strategies that worked in-store or for shoppers sitting at a desk do not apply to the channel.
AI and machine learning are transforming how marketers deliver campaigns to different audiences. These developments enable smarter product recommendations built on personalized customer data, not rudimentary segments that the retailer believes are correct.
Michael Langguth, co-founder of Poq:
An increasing number of shoppers today are app-only or store-and-app only, meaning that if you don’t offer an app that helps both, you simply don’t have exposure to that customer demographic. App store optimization and improvements in web search for apps are starting to become hot topics because they help retailers get access to new, especially younger, consumers.
And let’s continue with the first 10 spots in the Mobile & Cross-channel Top50:
- Albert Heijn
- Alza
- Apple Store
- Argos
- Asda
- Blue Inc
- BonPrix
- Darty
- Decathlon
- Deichmann
Here is the full Top 50:
Read the whole report for more case studies.
But for now, here are 12 approaches that work for the mobile shopping strategies of today:
1. Go mobile from the off. Retailers everywhere need to redesign websites as well as consider how mobile disrupts traditional sales models.
2. Fast load times on mobile. Giving shoppers the ability to browse, research, share and buy on mobile is no good if takes ages to load and causes frustration.
3. The importance of well-designed apps. A growing number of retailers need to offer shoppers a worthwhile in-app retail experience.
4. Store locators and store information. This ties together shopping, store locators, and the store to create a nifty cross-channel experience that enhances the act of shopping.
5. Loyalty schemes. Loyalty schemes built into apps at a fundamental level can encourage sales, but it is the process of integrating loyalty that many European retailers are now wrestling with.
6. Mobiles as scanners. One simple way to do this is to use the smartphone’s camera as a scanner to read bar codes or QR codes.
7. Transferable baskets. There is nothing more frustrating than browsing on your mobile during the commute home, only to find that when you fire up the same website on your laptop or tablet, your basket is once again empty.
8. Context and personalisation. The combined context and personalisation can be useful for attempting to create one-to-one relationships with customers, an approach that is increasingly being dubbed ‘hyper-personalization’.
9. Language that works for the user, not the location. Retailers need to design sites and apps so that they work well across channels, but they also need to look at how the optimization process based on IP address or location can serve up the right language for the user.
10. Talk to customers. Retailers that open themselves up to letting customers contact them back can build much more lasting relationships.
11. Payments matter. Serving the correct payment mechanism for the individual shopper based on nationality, not location, is once again crucial.
12. AR, VR and beyond… These technologies are a reality today and are pretty easy to implement thanks to mobile. Why not try them out?
To close here are the main elements that form an outstanding mobile experience:
