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Retailers fall short in meeting consumer app demands: Apigee

A new survey found that retail lags behind other industries in developing apps that satisfy the consumer, making it more difficult for retailers to get their slice of the $14.5 billion mobile shopping pie.
Written by Natalie Gagliordi, Contributor

Considering that Americans are expected to spend roughly $14.5 billion via mobile devices this holiday season, you would think retailers were staying on top of their app game.

Not so much, according to the survey from the Apigee Institute, which found that retail lags behind other industries in delivering apps that satisfy the consumer.

The survey found that more US adult shoppers admit that mobile devices have changed how they shop – a mobile trend that is hardly new. But it also found that apps are playing a more pivotal role in determining where people shop. The concept is simple: The better the retail app, the more likely people are to shop from it.

Put into numbers, 74 percent of US smartphone owners say they would be more likely to shop at a store that offered key functions and services via an app. Twenty percent of those surveyed admit to shopping at a new store simply because of its mobile app.

However, just 27 percent of those surveyed reported satisfaction with retail apps, while the banking industry trounced retail with a 45 percent satisfaction rating. Not surprisingly, apps have become the most common daily interaction channel for consumers with the banking industry. 

So what do consumers want from their retail apps? Foremost, Apigee found an affinity for adaptive apps, which are those that use data analytsis to learn from the shopper’s behavior over time in order to customize information and services if offers to each person. Time to get busy, retail.  

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