Dive Brief:
- Retailers are ignoring a potentially winning mobile marketing tactic, according to research from Accenture.
- The study looked at worldwide smartphone users who shopped digitally and in-store in the last three months found 47% of respondents "can’t wait to receive real-time promotions." However, only 7% of retailers offer that service.
- At 42%, the second most desired service from the report was the ability to credit coupons and discounts automatically.
Dive Insight:
According to eMarketer, Accenture surveyed more than 10,000 adult smartphone users across the globe. Being able to order out-of-stock goods via a smartphone and being able to use a shopping list, in-store item locater or navigator both closely trailed the top two desired services at 37% each.
In terms of meeting these desires for smartphone users, retailers do pretty well at delivering on the ability to order out-of-stock items via free in-store WiFi at 43%. Retailers offered mobile shopping lists at 31%, and 16% reported automatically crediting coupons and discounts.
The bottom of the list of services provided by retailers was providing apps that help customers with in-store navigation at 4%. But the key takeaway from the study is the chasm between the 47% of smartphone user who want real-time promotions and the 7% of retailers that offer that service.
Acceptance and adoption of e-commerce in the past few years has reshaped the traditional shopping journey and paved the way for a new, mobile-first path. Given this reality, it is no surprise consumers expect retailers to be greet them with real-time promotions. As marketers shift to adapt to this reality, retailers are having to do the same.