Retailers urged to deliver multichannel strategies for mcommerce

With consumer expectations towards mcommerce rising, a new survey highlights the importance of multichannel strategies for retailers.   

Stibo Systems annual consumer retail survey reported exponential year-on-year growth in mobile devices. According to the findings, 40% of respondents claimed to use a mobile device to make purchases, an increase of 10% from last year.

Additionally, the survey showed that 78% use mobile devices to review products before making purchases, showing product information is now more important than ever. Nearly 70% of consumers rated having product information as ‘very important’ when purchasing high value goods, according to the findings.

As a result, multichannel strategies must be up to speed to serve the customer – providing accurate product information – or brands will suffer, said the study.

Mark Thorpe, UK managing director at Stibo Systems, said: “It is evident that mobile is a key part of a retailer’s multichannel strategy. Retailers must pay attention to this if they are to continue to ensure customer satisfaction throughout the overall shopping experience. As the use of mobile devices becomes more ubiquitous in today’s world, it becomes crucial for retailers to meet customers’ rising expectations surrounding m-commerce.

“With this in mind, retailers need to ensure that managing master data is at the heart of their multichannel strategy for 2012; as the survey points out, consistent product information is something that consumers look for when shopping, whichever the channel. “

He added: “The potential for lost opportunity due to incorrect product information demonstrates retailers’ ongoing need of a product information management solution to be the foundation of their multichannel strategy. Such a solution is key to staying ahead of the curve in multiple channels and reducing lost opportunities and, thus, lost revenue.”