This month in the world of app commerce — October
This month in the world of app commerce we look to the future of app commerce including; what the industry experts predict will happen this peak trading season and how retail apps are evolving with the release of the latest technology.
Peeking at peak season
We’ve started the final stretch to the holiday season and that can only mean one thing, peak trading is just around the corner. We’ve taken a look at the buzz around Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2017 and what the industry is expecting this year. Reportedly, 72% of consumers are more excited for Cyber Monday than any other end of year sales day including Black Friday and Boxing Day. This study also found that 75% of shoppers aged 18–34 intend to visit stores only to buy the products they see online later. Retailers are going to need to focus on convenience to make the most of peak trading.
A combination of research by IMRG and Salmon has predicted that this November will see £10bn in mobile revenue, half of a total £20bn expected to be spent online in the ‘peak’ month of November. Considering 2015 was the first £1bn Black Friday, the demand for mobile shopping has sky-rocketed, and looks promising for mobile and app commerce this year.
Where technology is taking us
With the release of iOS11, ARKIt and Google lens, retailers are starting to incorporate different, app-exclusive features into their retail apps differentiating the app shopping experience from the mobile web.
Augmented reality
Augmented reality (AR) is hot right now and one report warns that retailers should aim to develop AR soon or risk losing customers because 69% of consumers expect retailers to be using AR within the next 6 months. One particular retail industry that has seen the use of AR take off is home furnishing. Retailers like Ikea, Lowe’s and even Dulux, have all released apps that utilise AR technology to show you how their products could look in your home. With the latest technology releases, it won’t be long before AR is commonplace across a wide range of retail industries.
Visual search
Another early adopter of app-exclusive features is ASOS, who recently released visual search functionality on their app and Target, who added Pinterest’s visual search tool to their app and website. With the release of technologies like Google lens, we don’t expect it to be too long before this technology becomes standard. In fact, at Poq, we have plans to add visual search functionality in an upcoming platform release.
The ‘go’ experience
Other major retailers making advancements with their apps include Walmart; who have now introduced returns for both online and instore on their app. Supermarkets like Tesco and Sainsbury’s have started testing apps with the aim of removing the checkout completely instore by letting customers scan and pay for their products on their own phones, much like Amazon Go. These major retailers have caught on to the importance of taking the shopping experience beyond multiple channels and treating the shopping journey as a path integrating the channels, working together to create an omnichannel experience.
Now you’re thinking about the future of retail apps you might be wondering what the future consumer looks like. We covered this in our recent post: ‘Preparing for the shoppers of the future’.
Reported by Samantha Rigg
Originally published at poqcommerce.com on October 26, 2017.
