Retail in Asia

In Trends

IDC report: Mobility a critical enabler of ‘best retail experiences’

Mobile applications will play a big part in retail transactions, but as mobile app–enabled sales spread from the early adopters to mainstream buyers, there will be dramatically increased reputational risk associated with app failures or poor customer experiences.

IDC Retail Insights said more effective testing will become increasingly important as the consumer’s last best experience will be the benchmark for all others, and customers will increasingly expect mobile devices to play a central role in their shopping.

The research firm recently published its first IDC PeerScape report, “Business Strategy: IDC PeerScape – Retail Mobility Project-Based Initiatives,” which identifies the practices that have the most impact on the success or failure of an initiative.

It provides a guide to critical initiatives for retail mobility projects. The five critical initiatives include: identifying and aligning cross-functional resources, establishing KPIs and test for performance and usability, clearly articulate governance policies, adopting agile implementation methods, and leveraging cloud or SaaS-based services.

"Consumer-facing and enterprise-facing mobility programs top the list of initiatives retailers are actively pursuing, and applying the best practices of the leaders can speed progress and reduce costs," said director, IDC Retail Insights.

IDC believes that mobility is a critical enabler of this "best experience" and requires applications that will engage and inform consumers and increase employee productivity.