Waking Business Up To Website Accessibility For Mobile

While it’s true that some businesses will always take a ‘wait and see’ attitude to changes resulting from emerging technology, there are many who readily see the online marketing opportunities for taking a competitive lead in their particular niche.

Of course, all the high profile publicity given to the teething problems of Apple iPhone4 have not helped! In any event, some business owners will a take the view that most technological changes are no more than a passing fad, citing that they can’t see how social media would work to make money for their particular business.

The development of the mobile internet may not be so easily dismissed as recent research seems to suggest that more businesses have embraced the possibilities of mobile, and of those with dedicated mobile sites, 39 per cent highlighted the benefits as being ‘sales from a new channel’.

In fact, two thirds of respondents went as far as saying that mobile was seen as important or essential for making their brand identity visible. As a consequence, they felt they were able to provide a more quicker, easier and efficient way of communicating with their customer base. Moreover, their mobile sites also enabled positive feedback to be received and gave flexible opportunity for two-way interaction with 83 per cent stating results met or exceeded expectations.

However, a significant 40 per cent of the 136 retail respondents had not used mobile internet in any way, although a quarter of the sample group claimed they were considering doing so in the coming six months. Tellingly, a further 16 per cent said they would definitely not use mobile, because of the costs they believed were involved and the lack of evidence of ROI for their specific business.

It does appear that retailers who clearly understand the potential of the channel may not be integrating usage within any kind of purposive marketing strategies or to help streamline business and provide a better customer experience. Of those that had used mobile in some form, most said they limited the usage to contacting customers with text messages to inform of delivery times, stock alerts and special offers, whilst over a fifth of retailers had built an app because they didn’t want to get left behind by competitors.

Optimising website accessibility for mobile applications is the way the web is increasingly pointing as the tablet platforms in differing screen sizes are also likely to begin taking effect as they enter the marketplace.

Although the much talked-about demise of deskbound PCs may be a long way in the future as yet, it is true to say that as smartphones drop in price, circulate and are taken up as consumers see the distinct individual benefits, those eCommerce businesses who first optimised their websites and opened up the channels will be best placed to retain a visible edge.