Mobile-optimised sites to be more lucrative than smartphone apps

Mobile-commerce sites preferable to app stores for both consumers and businesses, says industry body

Consumers expect a similar user experience with both mobile and traditional web sites

Online retail industry body IMRG claims that mobile web sites will be a more popular revenue stream for retailers than smartphone apps.

David Smith, managing director at IMRG, said the growing trend of using mobile phones to surf the web is causing the mobile channel to become a more prominent avenue for retailers. He argued that web sites optimised for mobile phones will become more important for retailers than smartphone apps.

“It’s a question of whether to create a mobile web site or go down the app route. If you go down the app route, that restricts you to the use of certain mobile devices for that app,” he said.

“I think the future for retail will be more in mobile-enabled web sites rather than apps. As a retailer, you’ll get lost in the sheer amount of apps there are out there and as a consumer, you don’t want to spend your time trawling through those apps, it’s better to surf in the same way that you surf the web using a PC.”

When it comes to developing a mobile-commerce site, a new study, carried out by research firm eDigitalResearch, revealed that pure play retailers – those that operate online only – such as Amazon and Play.com, are providing a better mobile commerce experience than high street brands.

The study showed that consumers expect a similar user experience with both mobile and traditional web sites. It also showed that retailers need to ensure consistency in pricing, delivery, special offers and terms and conditions, regardless of whether users are shopping online, via a smartphone or instore.

According to eDigitalResearch, pure play retailers are generally providing a better mobile solution for customers when compared with their multichannel rivals. Marks & Spencer’s mobile-optimised site was the only high street brand to make the survey’s top three; Play.com ranked first and Amazon came third.

The researchers reported that these pure players were tending to provide a simpler site with clear usability. In addition, some high street brands currently only offer a "click and collect" service, which is seen as less valuable than a delivery service, particularly in combination with poor site usability.

EDigitalResearch’s eMysteryShopper survey compared the customer experience on 15 UK web-enabled mobile retail web sites. The survey looks in detail at various aspects of an m-commerce site, such as its first impression, or homepage, its search function, product selection, ease of purchase, delivery and refunds procedure.