Digital CPG Blog

We talked earlier this week a bit about what users want from their mobile apps. Today, we report that most apps aren’t getting the job done, so says the New York Times:

Even as phones get more versatile and sophisticated, many retailers’ mobile sites and apps make it difficult to shop. It can be hard to examine items on a small screen, and the pages are often slow to load. Perhaps most frustrating, the process of entering information on a mobile keyboard requires either surgical precision or very tiny fingers.

As a result, retailers report that only about 2 percent of their sales are coming from mobile devices, a number well below the expectations of many e-commerce analysts.

Shoppers told Tealeaf that mobile shopping was more frustrating than sitting in traffic or visiting the D.M.V., which helps explain why, despite all the interest, people are not yet spending much when shopping on their phones.

Users do expect and want to shop on their phones, but the experience is more soul-crushing than the DMV. Clearly, there is a large opportunity for CPG manus and others to make a big impact in this market. Part of it will be having a mobile payment system that doesn’t make you put in your info every time, and part will be having the right experience. Imagine if you did mobile shopping right! That would certainly be a huge differentiator.

A study from the Private Label Manufacturers Association says consumers can shave 33% from their grocery bills if they buy only private-label products. Private-label aspirin was as much as 60% less expensive than national brands, the study found, while pasta sauce represented a 40% savings and store-brand carbonated drinks could save consumers as much as 46%.

So, what are you doing to differentiate your product beyond price? You can only go so low… how will you inspire loyalty and fan-dom? Going direct to consumer is an obvious way to combat this issue. Are there others?

This new research comes from across the pond, but is still useful to those of us in the States:

What did users like about mobile commerce apps?

Customers were looking for a similar experience on apps to that on desktop e-commerce sites, meaning the same stock availability, product information, and the ability to make a purchase.

Mobile usability is crucial, and the best apps were praised for ease of navigation and good filtering functionality.

Not surprisingly, Amazon was the top rated retail app, and this is because it ticks most of these boxes. The product pages are detailed, and most items contain plenty of reviews, while it has an easy payment process. If you already have an account (and plenty of its customers do), then making a purchase is very quick.

People also like the barcode scanning features on some of these apps. Amazon’s has this, as does the recently released Debenhams app.

Drawbacks of retail apps

The Sainsbury’s app received the lowest score, and this is because people are not able to make a purchase, just view store details and offers.

As the report points out, people who have downloaded a retailer’s app are more likely to be engaged with the brand, and not providing a route to purchase is a missed opportunity.

Other criticisms included limited stock, in the case of the House of Fraser Gift app, and a lack of product photos and information on the Interflora app.

It’s never a good idea to take half of your website and put it in a mobile app or to try to fully duplicate your website or store into a mobile app. Instead, you’ll need to design it specifically for the  mobile experience.