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Month: June 2014

Report: Over 50% of Retailers Focused On Responsive Design

 

Mobile shopping is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity for retailers in order to stay competitive and maintain high customer satisfaction rates. This was revealed at the Mobile Research Summit: Data & Insights 2014.

 

A study conducted and presented by the E-Tailing group revealed that the mobile commerce experience is still lagging, and retailers are working to overcome the obstacles. With the ever changing needs of consumers, especially as mobile shopping emerges as a necessity to stay competitive, retailers are focusing on responsive web design to meet these needs.

 

Simply put, responsive web design is “a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience – easy reading and navigation with a minimum of resizing, panning, and scrolling – across a wide range of devices, from mobile phones to desktop computer monitors.” According to the E-Tailing Group’s study results, retailers are finding that this is easier said than done.

 

Approximately 75% of the retailers included in this study stated that mobile is important to their business, though only 61% indicated that they are in the beginning stages of this initiative.

 

When retailers look at responsive design, there are many challenges to consider.  At the time of the study conducted by the E-Tailing Group, only 33% of consumers rated their overall mobile experience as excellent or very good. Below are some of the challenges consumers faced:

 

etail result

 

While the top concern, security when purchasing on mobile devices, is not completely in the control of the retailer, it is something to keep in mind when educating the consumer on the benefits of mobile shopping. Much like the days when online shopping first emerged, it will take time for consumers to become comfortable with this; educating and creating a sense of security and trust with consumers will go a long way in speeding this up and making consumers more comfortable with shopping on their mobile phones.

 

Other concerns that top the list are a result of the need for responsive design – ensuring that all aspects of the company’s site are fully functioning across all devices. This can be a challenge, especially in light of the many types of devices now available, varying connection speeds, and different operating systems.

 

However, retailers have been warned that mobile would be the next method for consumers, and they have been slow to respond. As Lauren Freedman, owner of the E-Tailing Group states, “With mobile’s profile in commerce growing, retailers need to get up to speed quickly. “When it was new, we had the luxury of time. Now it’s like a fight to the kill. We have no luxury of time anymore – for the shopper or the retailer.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mobile Feedback Offers More Options

 

Customer feedback is important, but can be difficult to obtain – traditional methods, including POS invitations to participate in surveys, have yielded lower response rates in the last few years. There is a way to reinvent the way you get feedback, opinions, and perceptions from your customers. Mobile feedback offers more flexibility and opportunity to get this valuable information in a simple, cost-effective manner.

 

Take a look at the quick tip we’ve created to learn more about our mobile feedback services:

 

 

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ACSI Report: Small Restaurants Flourish, Big Names Fall

 

The ACSI (American Customer Satisfaction Index) released the 2014 Restaurant Report. The good news – the economy is improving, with results indicating that consumers ate out an average of four times per week in 2013. This increase, at 60%, is the strongest we’ve seen since the recession started several years ago.

 

According to the recent report, this is great news for the smaller full service restaurant chains, but not so great news for the bigger chains. The results of this study show that customer satisfaction has increased for the smaller restaurants, while bigger names, such as Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and Outback, have fallen.

 

ACSI restaurant

 

 

When the economy is weaker, price is more of a factor for consumers; because they have less to spend, they will dine out where it costs less and may overlook a lack of service, or less than stellar service. However, now that signs are pointing to the fact that consumers are feeling comfortable with the economy and are willing to spend more, they are more choosy about where they dine out.

 

The overall rise in satisfaction within this group is credited to the smaller full service restaurant chains; feeling more impact from the recession, they are the ones who were moved quickly to overcome any challenges in their way – this led to a wider menu selection, and a focus on the customer experience. It looks like this has paid off in the long run, as consumers are reporting higher satisfaction with their restaurants over their much larger competitors

 

In fast food, it looks like pizza is the choice of the consumer. Subway has been in the lead for some time now, though this year their satisfaction levels have fallen by 6%. Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks also felt the loss, at drops at 6% and 5%, respectfully. The pizza chains, while they did see some loss in satisfaction levels, topped the fast food chart in this report:

 

ACSI restaurant 2

 

 

Staying competitive is more than offering low prices; as disposable funds are made available to consumers, they become more choosy on where they spend their dollars. It’s not just about price anymore – quality food, a variety of menu items, speed of delivery, and customer service can impact a consumer’s choice.

 

Kudos to the companies who spent the recession years working on maintaining and improving the entire experience; it looks like it is paying off, and they are giving their bigger competitors a run for their money.

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