Mobile commerce presents a tremendous opportunity for retailers to innovate, especially in the realm of apps.
However, Melissa Minkow, director retail strategy at CI & T, warns brands not to lose sight of what consumers want from their mobile shopping experience. Retailers that focus on engaging and entertaining consumers on their apps – with gamification a buzzword right now – take note: “The reality is consumers don’t really want that. They want the most efficient, easy checkout experience and an easy path-to-purchase journey through the app.”
Minkow was speaking to Inside Retail’s Amie Larter in a series of podcasts called Retail Untangled, which takes a peek under the hood of trending retail issues with leading industry experts during Shoptalk Fall in Chicago.
Shoppers’ aversion to games crosses all categories, whether quick service restaurants, supermarkets, make-up stores or fashion boutiques.
“Consumers don’t want to play around on retailer apps. They want to find what they’re looking for,” Minkow explains. “They don’t want just to have fun on these apps. They have other apps for that. We have social media apps. We have Candy Crush … We have all these other ways to have fun on our phones.”
According to CI & T’s recently released Connected Retail Report, mobile purchases reached $2.2 trillion last year, accounting for 60 per cent of global e-commerce sales. Much of that mobile commerce is still conducted over brands’ websites or marketplaces; many brands are still not exploiting the opportunities customised apps offer.
Minkow says the biggest roadblock to brands adopting their customised apps is a lack of confidence that consumers will download and use them regularly. “They find it difficult to justify the investment. There’s a lot of uncertainty there about whether it’s worthwhile.”
Retailers tell her they developed an app years ago and then abandoned it because they couldn’t get the downloads and the regular usage to justify the expense.
However, CI & T’s research report found signs that the tide is turning. More and more retailers are considering building up their customised shoppable apps, learning from past missteps and understanding shoppers’ priorities today.
Minkow is confident that consumers are open to apps – it’s just a matter of retailers building them right. She predicts compelling apps will be an increasingly important part of the omnichannel retail landscape as mobile commerce grows.
“We are on our smartphones more than we ever have been. And there’s a ton of white space here. If you build the right app-based experience, consumers will shop it. That’s where my advice to retailers has changed over time.
“There’s so much opportunity here. Retailers have just been really shy. Previously, my advice to them was don’t worry about your app. Now my advice is it’s time to build it and build it well.”
How apps can be more appealing, engaging and valuable
Consumers might worry that apps are taking up too much data, not providing a convenient, frictionless user experience, or failing to add value. If a customer goes through the trouble of downloading an app, registering, and getting a password only to find there is no additional experience or value to shopping on the brand’s mobile site, they feel it was a big waste of their time, she warns.
“If it doesn’t make the payment process more efficient or easier if it doesn’t help you find products faster, if it doesn’t help you navigate to deals and discounts more often, there’s no benefit to the consumer and they don’t understand the reason for downloading it.”
Minkow says CI & T’s research with quick service restaurants showed convenience and payments were critical drivers of customer satisfaction.
“The app has to make the payment process easier, whether in the store, the restaurant, or at home.”
The app also has to make it easy to find the product the user is craving, so the search functionality should be as robust as on the brand’s website, through Amazon or Google search.
Deals and discounts are a huge driver of adoption. Minkow cites Target as “the golden child here” in this regard. During Shoptalk, a Target executive shared that many shoppers start their journey by using the app. “That’s really important,” says Minkow. “But what’s also so great about Target’s app is that it is a wonderful tool in the physical store because it visually logs all your returns. I can quickly facilitate my returns process in stores using the app. My payment details, [loyalty] card, and discounts are linked there. And I always pay through the app.”
Consider acquisition and retention
She urges retailers to think about apps as an opportunity for acquisition, just as much as retention.
“Pay attention to retention because the most loyal consumers typically have your app downloaded, their baskets are bigger, and their frequency is higher. However, you must also consider the app an acquisition tool. What are the reasons that someone would choose [to download it]?
“A fast fashion retailer a while back launched an exclusive line with a celebrity stylist solely through its app. I love that celebrity stylist, so I downloaded the app to shop that collection early before it hit the website. That’s a huge perk. That’s an acquisition tool right there.
“So think about what perks you can build to drive acquisition.”
Listen to the podcast to hear Minkow talk about the three drivers that encourage consumers to download a retailer’s app, the potential of generative AI to enhance the customer experience, and the rise of the ‘super app’.
