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Are UK firms in danger of missing the boat on m-commerce?

Are UK firms in danger of missing the boat on m-commerce?

A staggering 80 per cent of UK firms do not have mobile-optimised websites, according to new survey by EPiServer.  

The survey interviewed 200 marketing executives and 1,000 consumers on their opinions of and barriers to the take up of m-commerce. 

Of the marketing executives interviewed 76 per cent said their companies had mobile strategies in place but only 26 per cent said they were expecting to launch a mobile-optimised site this year. Lack of technology (24 per cent), budget (23 per cent) and difficulty in proving the ROI of mobile sites (7 per cent) were cited as key barriers.

However, this reluctance is taking place in a retail environment where there is a notable increase in consumer confidence and appetite for mobile browsing and purchase via smartphones. Of the 1,000 consumers surveyed, more than half (59 per cent) had smartphones and 18 per cent had a tablet, and of this mobile internet-enabled audience 33 per cent had bought something from a website, and 26 per cent had used an app to buy.

Mark Brill, chair of the DMA Mobile Marketing Council and CEO of mobile marketing agency Formation, urges firm to push mobile strategy further up their marketing must-do list this year. 

More than half the UK population have smartphones and they are using them; 8 per cent of media time is now spent looking at online content via smartphones – that’s the same percentage that people spend on newspapers and magazines. It’s time to think seriously about what brand experience you are giving the consumers who are finding out about your services via their phones,” he says.

“A recent IAB survey shows that brands that have created mobile-enabled sites enjoy three and half times cite stickiness than their non-mobile enabled counterparts,’ says Brill. 

“Meet your consumers m-commerce expectations and they will stay, they will browse and they will buy. In tough times these are sales opportunities you can’t afford to miss.”

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Topics

  • Science, technology

Categories

  • direct marketing association
  • dma
  • episerver
  • dma mobile marketing council

Inspiring better business

We've been leading the way in direct marketing and helping the industry do better business since 1992. At the heart of what we do are our members. There are more than 800 of them across the UK, including agencies, list brokers and mailing houses, as well as blue-chip corporations such as BT, M&S, Lloyds TSB and the AA.

Policy and practice are driven by our 12 Councils, which specialise in areas such as training and development, lobbying and business services. They are supported by our 45-strong Central London administration plus teams in Edinburgh, Bristol and Manchester. We're also a member of the International Federation of Direct Marketing Associations (FDMA) and the Federation of European Direct and Interactive Marketing (FEDMA).

Contacts

Tristan Garrick

Press contact PR Manager 020 7291 3300

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