Sitecore,leaders in experience management software, released the second half of a global study conducted in conjunction with Vanson Bourne, surveying 450 brand marketers in 11 countries about their attitudes and strategy for the consumer mobile experience.
The research shows that a majority of brands are unprepared when it comes to implementing a mobile strategy and are not allocating sufficient resources to maintain, adapt, and improve the mobile experience in a fashion that aligns with dynamic consumer expectations.
Chief among the findings is that although 97 per cent of brands believe a good mobile experience impacts customer loyalty, 41 percent of respondents have either no mobile strategy in place at all, or have some form of mobile strategy that has yet to be implemented. Meanwhile, 70 per cent of these brands believe that their organisation will not deliver on a mobile experience strategy for at least another six months.
In addition, when it comes to describing how their organisation currently interacts with consumers on mobile, only 51 per cent of brands report that their company personalises content for mobile web customers while just 61 per cent have a mobile optimised website in place.
Alternatively, of the brands who are planning or have begun to implement a mobile experience strategy, 98 per cent reported that the organisation has been affected by the focus on mobile customer experience in some way.
For 53 per ent, mobile investment has led to structural reorganisations or altogether new teams and departments, while for 46 per cent, it has led to budget reductions in other areas of the business to allow for additional investment.
“As mobile devices have overtaken PCs for Internet access, brands must include the mobile environment when defining the customer experiences they deliver,” said Scott Anderson, CMO, Sitecore.
“Consumers now expect a contextual experience inclusive of mobile and will reward brands with loyalty for doing so while punishing those that don’t with decreased business. All consumers today should be considered the mobile consumer.”
According to Simon Hacking, online marketing manager at Chester Zoo, “Mobile is absolutely fundamental to what we do and accounts for 70 per cent of visits to our website, so it’s very important that we get the experience right every time. By deploying Sitecore, our mobile app is able to deliver personalised content that matches the location of individuals in the zoo.”
Additional key findings:
Brands and consumers agree:
– 97 per cent and 76 per cent, respectively, affirm that seamless mobile experiences have an impact on brand loyalty.
– Security features (such as password log-in), speed and convenience are the top three factors that make a good mobile experience.
– 96 per cent and 66 per cent, respectively, agree that mobile expectations and requirements will change within the next three years.
– Only 23 per cent of brands are able to measure their mobile experience performance based on KPIs.
– Only 48 per cent of brands report that their organisations are currently delivering a seamless mobile experience to their customers.