2015 is likely to see a gulf form between the ‘pioneering’ brands and retailers who will accelerate their mobile reach and the rest, who will continue to chronically under invest in mobile. So predicts Forrester Research as it looks ahead to next year: a picture that is already starting to emerge in our own IRUK 500 research.
According to Forrester, The new competitive battleground is the mobile moment. Why? Consumers expect to engage with brands to get any information or service they desire, immediately and in context. Today, 18% of US online consumers have this expectation, while 30% are in the midst of a transition to this mind shift.
The challenge is, however, that few organizations have the resources, organization, or processes to make this shift. The few that do have put tens of millions of dollars and years of experience between them and their competition.
Our own IRUK 500 also found that there was quite a gap between the top tier of omni-channel enabled retailers and lower orders. A gap that will be exacerbated through 2015, believes Forrester.
So what will happen in mobile through 2015? Here is what Forrester is predicting:
• Mobile will fuel a massive technology and spending arms race
Entrepreneurs and competitors who have made the mobile mind shift are putting pressure on companies by elevating customer expectations based on innovative ways to win, serve, and retain customers in their mobile moments. “As a result, mobile will be the catalyst for unprecedented digital transformation initiatives,” says Forrester. “Industry leaders will spend and orchestrate massive investments in the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in technology, systems, and processes to engage consumers effectively on mobile devices.”
• Re-engineering organizations and processes for mobile for an elite few
Mobile can change your entire business — not just your digital business — but few firms can make the transformation because digital professionals with mobile expertise sit mid-organization, in siloes, without the power to effect change beyond a digital business. “Only 7% percent of enterprises surveyed had an organization in place to enable the use of mobile to transform customer experiences throughout the entire business, and at most, we expect to see 25% of companies to do so in 2015,” says the analyst.
• New mobile-enabled business models will disrupt industries
Mobile offers unprecedented opportunities to change cost structures and lower barriers to entry across industries that will allow retailers, hotels, banks, and others to reconfigure their physical space. Mobile, first and foremost, will decrease the need for local, physical infrastructure; devices; and personnel, says the report.
• New pricing, selling and services opportunities will add to bottom line
Mobile will offer net new opportunities to mobile leaders to generate revenue within every industry. Mobile has been capable of delivering new revenue for years, but in 2015, leaders will build on the use of context such as location, analytics, and big-data savvy to execute on the opportunities that have eluded them in the past.
• Consumers will spend more time on mobile phones but in fewer apps
Consumers will spend more time on mobile phones but with fewer apps. UK and US consumers use an average of 24 apps per month but spend more than 80% of their time on just five apps. Why? Consumers have mobile app fatigue, warns the study.
• Mobile moments will shrink to micro moments
Forrester defines micro moments as those mobile moments that require only a glance to identify and deliver quick information that you can either consume or act on immediately.14 Consumer fatigue with the complexity of mobile apps, along with new devices and capabilities, will elevate the importance of micro moments. Consumers will still look to apps for complex tasks but rely on enterprises to anticipate their needs in micro moments through context and then push out notifications in the form of text messages, audio, or haptic signals to spur them to action — either digital or in the physical world.
• Business and technology strategies will shift from apps to experiences
Enterprises will shift their strategies from a singular focus on apps to engaging with their consumers through mobile experiences that are just right for their customers’ mobile moments and to the resulting BT agendas that will focus on experiences.
• Mobile privacy is the next differentiator for mobile experiences
In 2015, the current renegotiation of the EU Data Protection Directive as well as the introduction of the “right to be forgotten” will be high on digital professionals’ agendas. “We also expect the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to extend its scrutiny of data brokers and big data practices to mobile apps and connected devices,” predicts Forrester.
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