According to “The State of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social, and Mobile” report conducted by Forrester Research Inc. for Shop.org, 91 percent of retailers currently have a mobile strategy in place or in development (up from 74 percent a year ago). Additionally, 72 percent of retailers say they will increase their spending on social networks this year over last year. “The State Of Retailing Online" research series, which provides eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals with annual industry benchmarks of marketing and business investment and activities, surveyed 68 companies.
Retailers report that 21 percent of all mobile traffic is coming from tablets. Still, the overall amount of mobile traffic and revenue has not increased dramatically, suggesting that investment levels in site optimization still may be inadequate. For example, 48 percent of retailers report having a mobile-optimized website, 35 percent have deployed an iPhone app, and 15 percent offer an Android app and an iPad app, respectively. Challenges for retailers include differentiating the consumer experience on a tablet versus a smartphone and figuring out features and functionality in dueling app/mobile Web ecosystems.
Compared with past years, social networks surfaced higher as an investment area among retailers, ranking fourth on the list of successful customer acquisition sources, up significantly from last year. Yet the ROI associated with social is muddy: 62 percent of retailers said the returns on social marketing strategies are unclear, and nearly the same percentage said the primary ROI from social marketing is listening to — and gaining a better understanding of — customers.
"The State Of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social, and Mobile,” is available to Shop.org members and also can be purchased directly at www.shop.org/soro. Forrester clients will be able to access the report as part of their subscription service one month from publication.
Source: Shop.org/ForresterResearch
