Debenhams, Expedia and Argos have triumphed in the latest UK Mobile Commerce study by EPiServer, which scores the UK’s top 30 retailers apps and mobile sites against best practice benchmarks.
Over half (55 per cent) of the retailers surveyed were found to have improved their digital practice with the results suggesting that retailers are now working harder to meet increasing consumer demands.
One significant improvement since the last study is the number of retailers offering mobile optimised experiences and the increasing focus on mobile sites over apps only. In 2011 30 per cent of the UK’s top 10 retailers did not have a mobile optimised site, now just 17 per cent of the top 30 do not.
““It is clear that over the last two years retailers have strived to grasp the mobile opportunity,” commented David Bowen, product manager EPiServer.
The 30 retailers were rated on the speed, key functionality and ease of use of their mobile and tablet offerings, mobile sites and native apps. Debenhams scored 90 per cent in these criteria beating replacing Argos at the top; Argos achieved 85 per cent placing it joint second with travel provider Expedia.
Scoring was based on answers to questions such as “Does the company have a mobile-enabled website?”, “Is the site/app easy to use?” and “Are essential information easy to find (e.g. customer service numbers)”.
Bowen added: “Top performer Debenhams in particular is a great example of how having a solution for each platform and offering a contextualised mobile experience across each is the winning formula for delivering a premium customer experience, and ultimately increasing conversions and sales.”
The top 10 performing retailers were:
1. Debenhams - 90 per cent
=2. Expedia, Argos - 85 per cent
3. Tesco – 80 per cent
4. Amazon UK – 80 per cent
5. IKEA – 74 per cent
6. ASOS – 72 per cent
=7. John Lewis, Topshop – 71 per cent
8. ASDA – 68 per cent