Mary Portas Retail Review, an Automotive view
Written by Tina de Souza
If it isn’t yet, I’m sure the Mary Portas review on retailing will be trending twitter topic! It’s an honest comprehensive report where Portas provides 28 recommendations on addressing the retail crisis.
As you would expect a strong focus of the review is on community and supporting local business – something that close to my heart through my work local charities to provide training and resources to young adults or through my endeavour to buy groceries and fresh produce from the local stores.
So what’s key about the report?
One point instantly jumped out;
Technology and the consumer
Technology has influenced buying behaviour and consumer mindsets have been changed.
“The phenomenal growth of online retailing, the rise of mobile retailing, the speed and sophistication of the major national and international retailers, the epic and immersive experiences offered by today’s new breed of shopping mall, combined with a crippling recession, have all conspired to change today’s retail landscape” stated Portas.
Consumers have embraced technology at a far more rapid rate than most retailers, as a result their expectations have changed. Amongst other things, consumers now expect (or demand) immediacy online no more so than through mobile. Get it right and the results are powerful.
In recent article in Telegraph Andy Street, Managing Director of John Lewis, is ‘unflinchingly optimistic’, total sales of John Lewis’s 35 UK department stores in the week ending December 4 were 9.6 percent up on last year’s snow-hit equivalent period and 10.9 percent up on the same week of 2009. Last week, moreover, is expected to beat John Lewis’s all-time record. Having outperformed the market by 10 percent over the whole of 2010, and in 2009 he is optimistic this year will be a third win. Street attributes this to two factors; The first summed up by the buzz phrases of “multi-channel retailing” or “bricks and clicks”, which describe how a strong web presence support a physical stores network. The second down to being “better trusted by customers as they are more careful with their spending in strained economic times.”
In the week ending December 4 sales at johnlewis.com were around 20% above its previous record, at £28.8m, while the number of shoppers using the related click and collect service rose by 75 percent. For John Lewis click and collect has been a big winner with its customers and clearly demonstrates that online and mobile have a very valuable role in driving footfall to stores.
Online is here to stay. The next big shift is happening, mobile is growing at a rate of 8 – 9 times quicker than desktop did. Organisations need to start to invest and now - especially retailers. Going back to the point of local business a key factor about the mobile channel is it’s all about location! Mobile is a driver of location based services and retailers should be exploring, testing and investing into these activities.
Here are 5 recommendations on how you can develop retailing through your mobile channel:
1. Demystify!
Yes, as with the web, there’s a lot being said, promoted and sold especially with mobile and social services. Many suppliers have jumped on the mobile band wagon – many of their approaches’ and platforms are flawed, few are delivering the results you would expect to see - Caveat emptor ‘buyer beware’. Understand what you’re buying into and ensure you’ve got some good measurement and reporting in place. Cut through the complex, technical and confusing waffle and focus on more realistic, measurable solutions. Make sure your existing supplier or agency does this for you!
2. Simplify
It’s safe to assume by now businesses recognise the value of mobile. Take automotive, the latest Trader Media annual report showed their UK Auto Trader mobile audience grew by 114% in the 2010 calendar year and now stands at just over 1.1 million users. Mobile is real and brands need to react. So where do you start? Don’t try and do everything at once. Start with the basics and build from there (we’ll give you a few practical points).
3. Focus
Focus on your area of investment and don’t get distracted. Emerging and disruptive technology can be very exciting but also very distracting and resource intense. Ensure you have the right performance measurements in place to measure return on investment (ROI).
4. Accelerate
Don’t stop! Don’t be afraid to try new channels. Risk can be mitigated by implemeting your strategy in small tactical steps, placing the right measures in place and setting specific budgets over certain timeframes. Work with organisations that understand your business, the mobile environment and will help you build a solid strategic mobile foundation, rather than those intent on filling their trophy cabinet with awards.
5. Mobile basics
i) Optimise for mobile
Want more clicks, then this is step one. Serving a PC designed website to a mobile device is no longer acceptable and you would be able to measure that by the high drop-off rates. According to recent Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) statistics, if a business’ site typically takes longer than 3 seconds to load on a mobile device the buyer has given up and gone to your competition! With almost a quarter of all online time now via a mobile device it essential businesses react and develop a mobile presence that delivers to their customer needs.
ii) Simple to use and actionable content
A good mobile site needs to work effectively on any mobile device or operating system. Can car buyers easily use your service and quickly find what they are looking for? Can they easily complete tasks, like find or call you? When you consider that less than 40 percent of the UK mobile internet users have Smartphones, it is essential that any mobile service works on a wide range of mobile devices.
iii) Optimise for search and discoverable
Search is a key way to drive traffic to a site and is almost totally overlooked by many organisations when developing a mobile site. A well optimised site will ensure you get the maximum leads and clicks and you’ve got high ranking. With already almost 20 percent of Google’s total search activity from mobile devices creating a well optimised mobile site will give many a real advantage and drive traffic. Your optimisation should not be solely dependent on keywords as a change in algorithms will impact your organic rankings.
iv) the lowest denominator
Think simple and cater for the lowest denominator. Features can quickly create barriers and reduce you potential audience. When developing your mobile strategy keep this in mind. If you build a mobile service that is compabile for an iPhone with operating system IOS 4.3, or above, you instantly alienate some 25% of iPhone owners (all those that have never updated the software in their device). Also many users migrate between devices and manufacturers a consistent experience is key otherwise you will quickly alienate users. Small elements can quickly reduce an organisations target market and impact significantly on potential ROI.
Mobile does not have to be complex or expensive. Returns can very quickly be demonstrated. Key is to start to develop the right strategic foundation from which you can build. An business like Mobileweb Company can typically implement a mobile solution for any organisation in a matter of days, making them one of the most cost efficient and effective ways for a brand to develop a powerful mobile presence.
