If singer Pat Benatar thought love was a battlefield, she could fill one album after the next with tales of the eCommcerce battlefield – an arena in which retailers large and small are perpetually striving to obtain a bigger share of this increasingly lucrative market.
As any battle-tested digital retailer would tell you, your success often depends on how well you use the tools of contemporary eCommerce. And, today, there are no weapons in the arsenal of digital retail more valuable than mobile websites and mobile apps.
But a raging argument regarding which is more conducive to mCommerce has already sparked another contentious battle. Fortunately, on Monday, Nielsen looked to cool the heated debate by settling the matter with the findings from its latest report.
For the time being, Nielsen’s analysis of smartphone usage reveals that retailer mobile websites are more popular than retailer mobile apps.
The Mobile Website Reins Supreme
“The majority of smartphone owners used their devices for shopping this past holiday season,” says John Burbank, President of Strategic Initiatives at Nielsen. “Mobile shopping has reached scale and is only going to grow as smartphone penetration continues to rise.”
The study’s data was derived from the participation of 5,000 smartphone users (Android and iOS devices) who consented to the survey in late 2011.
Burbank says Nielsen’s data finds that smartphone owners of both genders prefer retailers’ mobile websites over mobile apps, with men slightly more likely to try retailers’ mobile apps than women.
“However,” the report reads, “consumers who use retailers’ mobile apps tend to spend more time on them.” But during the height of the holiday shopping season, all five of the top mobile retail websites – Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, Target and Walmart – experienced a traffic and session length “bump” that helped narrow the gap between mobile app and mobile website loyalists.
During the 2011 holiday season, the preeminent five online retailers listed above reached nearly 60 percent of smartphone owners.
Two Platforms Are Better Than One
No shortage of mobile app developers and retail industry analysts believe that, in the long term, mobile apps will be a better friend to mobile shoppers than a retailer’s mobile website. For now, the fact remains that a quality app is more difficult – and more expensive – to build than a website optimized for mobile. While Nielsen didn’t speak to any disparity in quality between mobile apps and mobile websites, there remains a clear difference. But as retailer-made mobile apps improve in functionality and utility, mobile websites might eventually see some stiffer competition.
So although the relative value of mobile apps and mobile websites will continue to be debated in the retail space, the resounding popularity of each (regardless of which is preferential to most smartphone owners) illustrates why retailers are wise to deploy both a mobile app and a mobile website as part of their strategy today.
“Retailers need to think of their business as a multi-channel environment that can potentially include mobile, online, and bricks and mortar stores,” Burbank concludes. “Winning with shoppers requires a consistent experience across channels that reinforces the values you represent as a retail brand, whether it be price, service, reviews, selection, style, or other key attributes.”
Source: Nielsen Wire
This is an interesting debate. From my own experience, I tend to go more towards mobile websites versus apps, however apps seem to work better and faster. It will be interesting to see what happens in the future and to see whether or not retailers invest in both mobile websites and apps or choose just one platform.
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