Retailers Going Mobile with Increased Digital Marketing Spend

(IDEX Online News) – According to a recent survey by Shop.org/Forrester Research, Inc. 87 percent of online retailers surveyed either already have implemented or are planning to implement mobile email optimization in 2013. The State Of Retailing Online 2013: Marketing & Merchandising study also found that seven in 10 will optimize paid search for smartphones and tablets (71 percent and 73 percent, respectively.

According to the study, retailers say that, on average, 28 percent of emails sent to customers are first opened on a smartphone that number increases to 42 percent for small retailers, making a mobile marketing plan a crucial business decision.

“As consumer adoption of smartphones and tablets in the United States reaches critical mass, retailers know that their marketing mix has to work optimally for all customer touch points now,” said Shop.org executive director Vicki Cantrell.

“Email has always been one of most effective customer retention vehicles in the market, so it’s no surprise to see retailers investing to make email engaging and relevant for the increasingly mobile consumer.”

The NRF says that across all digital platforms, email and search are where four out of five retailers (80 percent) are most likely to invest more this year than last, signaling retailers’ understanding that they need to balance investments and resources in both retention and acquisition.

As a result, 40-percent of retailers surveyed say they plan to hire for open positions in marketing analytics in 2013, reflecting the need to wrestle down volumes of marketing data to create more effective interactions and an improved customer experience.

According to the study, product detail page improvements, particularly video offerings, will be a top focus this year: nearly three-quarters (72 percent) will invest in integrating video on their sites. Another 62 percent indicate that recommendations and personalization features will be a priority, including integrating capabilities to create different home pages and creating unique pages for their customers based on purchase history. 

“Retailers continue to optimize the customer experience on their site and to that end have made investments in A/B testing, product detail page enhancements, and personalization mainstream,” said Forrester Research vice president and principal analyst Sucharita Mulpuru. “Going forward, however, we expect to see much more emphasis on checkout enhancements, as that is a key obstacle for direct transactions on mobile devices.”