87 per cent of retailers believe mobile commerce will impact shopping in the next two years. Yet despite this conviction, just 16 per cent have a mobile strategy in place, and almost a third have no plans to implement one.
That’s the key finding of a study commissioned by mobile application firm Kony, and carried out by research firm Vanson Bourne, which interviewed 100 marketing and IT directors at UK retail businesses.
42 per cent of retailers believe that mobile commerce is already affecting shopping behaviour at physical retail locations, while 89 per cent believe mobile will be as popular as eCommerce. 45 per cent of retailers identified native mobile apps as the most critical mobile commerce channel to their business, while 40 per cent believe the mobile web is more important. SMS was named as most important by just 10 per cent of retailers. On average, retailers expect to spend 21 per cent of their budget on the development and implementation of a mobile strategy, but notably 10 per cent are already investing between 40 to 50 per cent of their budget into mobile.
“The aim of this study was to assess the preparedness of UK retailers for mobile in relation to consumer expectations and demands,” says David Eads, head of product marketing at Kony. “The results show a significant discrepancy between retailers’ anticipations of the impact of mobile, and the strategies that they currently have in place to facilitate this demand. It is clear that mobile is already affecting shopping habits and has the potential to overtake eCommerce in the next few years.”
As part of the study, Vanson Bourne also interviewed 1,000 consumers. 60 per cent of these said they used the mobile internet to make decisions in a store or while shopping online. Similarly, 40 per cent use mobile apps to make shopping decisions and 37 percent use a combinations of the two.
While 74 per cent of retailers surveyed have a presence on the iPhone, 58 per cent of consumers prefer to shop and browse on other platforms, meaning that by developing for just the iPhone, retailers are ignoring a significant portion of their customer base. 
“The discrepancy between what retailers know they should do and what they are actually doing demonstrates how difficult it is to deliver mobile applications across the wide variety of phones, tablets, and browsers,” adds Eads. “Companies need a partner to manage the mobile chaos, so they can focus on growing their business.”
The survey also explored the development of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, consumer attitudes towards mobile payments, and how retailers plan to implement the technology within their stores. 57 per cent of retailers surveyed said they are considering the technology as part of their overall mobile strategy, citing competitive pressures and customer demand as key drivers for this decision. A quarter of consumers already want to use their mobiles to pay for items in-store, rather than using cards or cash, despite the low awareness of the technology among consumers.
Consumers cite convenience (59 per cent) as the reason for using mobile payments. Security concerns (39 per cent) remain a key reason why consumers say they don’t want to pay with mobile, suggesting a real opportunity for retailers to significantly increase interest in mobile payments by addressing these concerns and this lack of education, since NFC provides significantly security advantages.
Kony develops apps on a self-built “Write Once, Run Everywhere” platform developed by 70 software engineers over two years between 2007 and 2009. The company’s customers include 70 per cent of US airlines, several large retailers, and a number of top 10 banks.
