Survey: Apps, ads and coupons top retailers' mobile plans

Seventy three percent of U.S. retailers are now actively embracing mobile marketing efforts, with another 20 percent closely evaluating the channel, according to a new survey conducted by Forbes Insights in association with Research In Motion. While 10 percent of retailers have already widely implemented mobile programs, 24 percent say their efforts are expanding rapidly, and 39 percent indicate they've launched pilot programs--among retailers embracing mobile, 47 say they hope to capture "first-mover advantage" as their customers go mobile, 23 percent are looking to keep up with rivals and 20 percent are taking an incremental approach to the platform. Only 7 percent of U.S. retailers say they do not plan to pursue mobile initiatives.

At present, mobile websites are the most common retailer tactic, embraced by 36 percent of respondents--however, 44 percent of retailers plan to release downloadable mobile applications within the next year, more than any other approach. Mobile advertising is currently leveraged by 35 percent of respondents, although that number is poised to grow to 41 percent over the next 12 months--mobile coupons, currently offered by 29 percent of retailers, will increase to 39 percent by next year.

Forty five percent of retailers say their mobile channel returns are meeting expectations, with 17 percent enthusing that returns exceeded expectations and 10 percent reporting that returns failed to match expectations. While 45 percent of respondents claim their integration of mobile with other channels is already effective, 40 percent anticipate their mobile efforts will be fully integrated with other channels in the next year.

For more on the Forbes Insights report:
- read this MarketingProfs article

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