Customer Satisfaction with Mobile Shopping on the Rise; Trails Satisfaction with Websites

LONDON, January 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

…49% have used their mobile for shopping and an extra 28% plan to do so in the future…

ForeSee, the leading customer experience analytics firm, has today announced the findings of its latest mobile shopping report (as part of its study of nearly 10,000 visitors to the biggest e-retail websites in the UK throughout December) revealing key trends on retailers' future business. ForeSee's methodology is able to show how customers' satisfaction with various interactions with a company (including mobile shopping and applications) impacts their purchase intent, loyalty, and recommendations across all channels.

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Key research findings:

• Mobile phone use for shopping is on the rise - 49% of all UK survey respondents indicated that they had accessed a retailer's website using a mobile phone (compared to 32% in 2010 and 23% in 2009) and an additional 28% indicate that they plan to use their mobile phone to access a retailer's website, mobile website, or mobile app in the future. In short, more than three-quarters of all online shoppers are either already using or plan to use their phones for retail purposes. This finding indicates a huge opportunity for retailers with sophisticated, user-centric mobile sites and apps.

Table 1. Mobile phone use for shopping

    Have you used a mobile phone to access ANY company's website,
    mobile website, or mobile shopping app?
                                       2009    2010    2011
    Yes                                 23%     32%     49%
    No, but I plan to in the future     32%     32%     28%
    No, and I don't plan to             43%     35%     22%
    Not sure                             1%      1%      1%

• Multiple device shopping - Shopping via a mobile phone has become as common as shopping from a computer at work, and many people are shopping using multiple devices, underscoring the critical importance of providing a mobile experience that reinforces and supports a retailer's brand and reputation rather than undermining it.

Table 2: Multiple device shopping

    During the Christmas season, which of the following devices did you use 
    to shop with this company? (Select all that apply.)    % of Respondents
                                                   
    A home computer                                              90%
    A mobile phone or smartphone 
     (to access a website, mobile site or mobile app)            15%
    A computer at my work                                        15%
    A tablet or iPad                                              5%
    A computer at another location 
     (public library, friend's house, etc.)                       4%
    Another device                                                3%

• Traditional websites still outperform mobile sites and apps - Even though mobile shopping is clearly catching on, shoppers are still not quite as satisfied with the mobile experiences provided by UK e-retailers. Traditional e-retail websites in the UK rate a 73 on the study's 100-point scale, up one point from last year. However, UK customers rate their satisfaction with the mobile experience significantly lower: 70 (which is still a positive increase from last year's mobile satisfaction score of 67).

Table 3 - Traditional websites vs. mobile and apps

    Customer Satisfaction in the UK        2010    2011
    Retail Websites                         72      73
    Retail Mobile Sites and Apps            67      70

"The research clearly found that the use of mobile phones to access companies' websites, mobile websites and applications for shopping purposes is increasing dramatically in the UK, indicating that any retailer who is not wholeheartedly embracing the mobile trend is leaving money on the table for competitors," said Larry Freed, CEO at ForeSee. "Given the widespread and growing usage of mobile websites, it is no longer acceptable for a retailer to have a substandard mobile site no matter how good their traditional site is. If shoppers aren't having a good mobile experience with a given retailer, they will simply go elsewhere."

ForeSee's Senior Director of Mobile, Media and Entertainment Eric Feinberg, added, "It is pleasing to see that the satisfaction gap between traditional websites and the mobile experience is narrowing: last year there was a five-point gap; this year, there is a three-point gap. However, satisfaction with mobile still lags. This presents retailers who do manage to provide an excellent mobile experience with a great opportunity to continue to improve, and it also creates a big incentive for those who don't have their house in order to do so. Meanwhile, expectations are being set by the best retail websites - the others will have to catch up quickly." Feinberg gives a final pointer for retailers working in - and looking at mobile shopping: "Don't be tempted to measure satisfaction by tracking sales, app downloads, or mobile site traffic. Customer satisfaction is the result of meeting a customer needs and expectations - the principles are the same regardless of the customer touch point. You can only find out about satisfaction by asking the customers themselves."

About the Research

The ForeSee Online Retail Satisfaction Index (UK Christmas Edition) is based upon a customer satisfaction methodology developed at the University of Michigan. It is the only cross-industry methodology able to consistently demonstrate organisations that more effectively satisfy customers realise higher financial returns. With origins in Sweden, where it was originally developed as the Swedish Barometer, this methodology has been adopted as a national measure of customer satisfaction by the United States (American Customer Satisfaction Index), the United Kingdom (National Customer Satisfaction Index UK) as well as by governments in Colombia, Dominican Republic, Korea, Mexico, Sweden, South Africa, Turkey, and elsewhere. For the past 10 years, ForeSee has been measuring online customer satisfaction for leading retail sites including Best Buy, Sears, and Target using this scientific approach. Additionally, the firm produces the annual U.S.-based Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index which provides an interesting point of comparison to customer satisfaction with UK online retail.

The list of retailers was selected based on the IMRG Experian Hitwise Hot 100 Retailer list.

The Index represents nearly 10,000 customer surveys which were collected via an online panel with more than 700,000 online consumers provided by Research Now from the 22 November through to the 11 December from shoppers who had visited at least one the top 40 retail websites within the previous two weeks or travel websites within the last six months.

About ForeSee

As a pioneer in customer experience analytics, ForeSee continuously measures satisfaction across customer touch points and delivers critical insights on where to prioritise improvements for maximum impact. Because ForeSee's superior technology and proven methodology connect the customer experience to the bottom line, executives and managers are able to drive future success by confidently optimising the efforts that will achieve business and brand objectives. The result is better business for companies and a better experience for consumers. Visit http://www.foresee.com for customer experience solutions and original research.

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Nikki Alvey, The PR Network
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Nikki.alvey@theprnetwork.co.uk