Fifth of e-tailers use mobile microsites

Research by Sponge has revealed that a fifth of online retailers have used mobile microsites to push specific promotions.

The study, which looked at how the retail industry perceives and uses mobiles as a sales and communication tool, also revealed that 40 per cent of those surveyed said they already had an information-led mobile internet site, or were considering building one.

However, 10 per cent were unsure, while half said that a mobile internet site was not part of their growth plan.

The survey showed that retailers considered mobile to be a useful customer communication channel - half said they had used mobile as a direct response channel in television or press advertising campaigns.

60 per cent of these had done so by featuring an SMS code in television adverts, while 20 per cent did so in print magazines and newspapers.

The remaining 20 per cent said they were unsure which advertising medium they had used mobile as a response mechanism for.

Sponge's study, which focuses on 10 prominent online retailers across sectors including travel, fashion, leisure, catalogues, communications and publishing, showed that overall 70 per cent use mobile to communicate with their customers.

When asked what the main purpose of contacting customers via SMS was, the survey found that 40 per cent of retailers use messages to send product information while a further 40 per cent use SMS to send stock alerts and delivery time confirmation.

20 per cent said they inform their customers of special offers using SMS.

Of those who do not currently use mobile to communicate with customers (30 per cent), two-thirds intend to start within the next 12 months.

The rest said they are not considering using mobile in the future, citing that they had tried it in the past and not seen any benefits.

Although a high number of retailers use mobile to communicate with customers, only 20 per cent currently use 'm-commerce' as a transactional sales channel.

Sponge's study revealed that 40 per cent of online retailers said that their transactional websites are mobile-friendly, while half of those surveyed said they would be ensuring this within the next 12 months.

10 per cent said they did not know if their website was mobile-friendly.

30 per cent of those questioned felt that the success of mobile and e-commerce were not interlinked, citing that they would find mobile a useful and efficient way of communicating with customers even if they did not have an e-commerce site.

However, 50 per cent believe that online and mobile are dependent on each other, with 20 per cent undecided.

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