William Gibson, the science fiction author who invented the term "cyberspace," is often attributed with saying, "The future is already here. It's just not evenly distributed yet." It's a pronouncement that may apply to the less-than-balanced approach retailers are taking with the various digital channels. Many marketers appear to be making assumptions about consumer shopping preferences based on the skyrocketing adoption rates of new technology, namely tablets and smartphones. However, a new study on the habits of "connected consumers" indicates that focusing too intently on mobile commerce apps is not fully warranted.
The report, Meet the Connected Consumer: How Tablets, Smartphones and Facebook are Changing the Ways Consumers Shop, was commissioned by digital catalog experts Zmags. For the study, Equation Research interviewed 1,500 consumers, all of whom own a computer, smartphone and/or tablet. The stand-out stat: only four percent of survey respondents choose smartphone or tablet apps as their preferred method of browsing and discovering new products. An overwhelming 87 percent would first choose to do so via a website on their PC or laptop. For these tech-oriented consumers, online browsing even beat out in-store shopping (71 percent).
The low acceptance numbers for mobile apps may shock retailers and brands, many of which jumped on the bandwagon early, at a point when mobile website development was still rather clumsy.
"People thought that it was the silver bullet to mobile e-commerce," W. Sean Ford, Zmags COO and CMO, told RetailWire. And that, for many retailers, has caused things to become "unevenly distributed" (as per Mr. Gibson).
"The app is an important part of the e-commerce and mobile commerce ecosystem but it cannot support the weight of it and if you're an innovative retailer you have to acknowledge there are different pieces," said Mr. Ford.
What may be holding apps back is the lack of convenience for mobile shoppers. Mr. Ford imagines a Nordstrom shopper who, having seen an attractive pair of shoes, decides to buy it later online.
"You don't think, 'I'm going to go to the app store to download the Nordstrom app to buy those shoes. Oh, by the way I see the reviews of that app ... uh, only 2-1/2 stars! I already have hundreds of apps on my phone. I don't want to add another app.' So it becomes a non-intuitive process."
The improvements in interface design for mobile web browsing made possible by HTML 4 and, soon, HTML 5, are putting that option on par with apps, shifting retailer investment to that area, according to Mr. Ford. He also points out that while most retailers of any significance now have smartphone apps, far fewer have taken the step to create tablet-optimized products or a social-optimized products.
"We're just trying to say you have to make sure you understand each function or each tool or each channel has strengths," said Mr. Ford. "Play to those strengths and integrate them to get the most out of mobile commerce."