According to the findings of Acquity Group’s second annual mobile commerce audit, mobile web retailers are sorely under-utilizing the potential of the mobile web in their commercial endeavors.
As it turns out, a scare 12% of the top 500 internet retailers presently have mobile-specific sites, despite the apparent recent boom in online retailers venturing deep into mobile-optimized territory with their products and services.
Tom Nawara of Acquity blames a sluggish economy for the relative slow growth in the mobile-optimized web presence for online retailers. But that may soon change. “We’re hearing from clients now who are fairly mature in the digital space but haven’t done anything yet in mobile and want to get more involved,” Nawara says.
Based on Acquity’s findings, the companies credited with developing the best and most aggressive mobile websites include Amazon.com, Best Buy, 1-800-Flowers.com, Barnes and Noble, Indigo Books & Music, Sears, Overstock.com, QVC, Target and ShopNBC.com.
Incredibly, however, only 5% of the 500 internet retailers analyzed had both a mobilized site and a downloadable application. Similarly, only 2% had an e-commerce-enabled app.
Nonetheless, expectations for the retail sector’s skillful and aggressive use of the mobile web remain high, as the proportion of online retailers with mobile-tailored sites has actually tripled during the last twelve month period.