The month in app commerce: July 2017

We’re now half-way through 2017 and lot has happened in the retail ‘appasphere’. Let’s take a look at what has caught our eye this month.

Appy Birthday iPhone

As the iPhone turned 10 years old in June, we review how the iPhone and consequently smartphones have revolutionised the retail sphere and shaped today’s shopping habits.

Although not the first smartphone, the iPhone arguably made the biggest impact on mobile and mobile commerce. The iPhone became the ultimate multi-tool; no need to carry around that map, torch, calculator, calendar and camera anymore and since the addition of the app store in 2008 there are millions of apps for every eventuality.

There’s an app for that

Naturally since the introduction of the app and the ability for external developers to create apps for iOS, retail has felt a seismic shift in shopping behaviours. Smartphones have fundamentally changed the way we shop. With Adobe reporting that 40% of Black Friday sales came through mobile and eMarketer predicting that by 2021, mobile will account for over half of ecommerce sales, mobile and especially apps are not only our present, but look to be the future too.

Retailers are already making the most of today’s innovative smartphone features, with Apple at the forefront of the latest technologies. Features such as Touch ID and Apple Pay have meant retailers can provide the most convenient form of shopping anywhere and at any time. Retailers are seeing the way forward is mobile.

Aside from the app store, iPhone also created showrooming, whereby customers compare products on the spot and instore, this resulted in price transparency and healthy competition. With the introduction of Apple Pay, mobile payments have become mainstream and are set to overtake debit card.

This mobile revolution has driven expectations of digital shopping far beyond a simple transaction and into the realms of highly personalised and engaging experiences. There’s certainly no denying that the iPhone has had a large part to play in this.

The high street may be in troubled waters, but there’s a solution

As we are all aware, shopping behaviour has changed, and for now, the high street has felt the biggest impact with 1500 fashion-focused retailers closing stores this year as a result and footfall declining in the past 5 years by 57%.

But change isn’t all bad. There’s light at the end of the tunnel

Mobile is actually starting to drive local trade. More customers are using their smartphones, especially features like stock checkers, before heading to a store, and nearly 60% of shoppers look up product information and prices while using their mobile phones in stores. Retailers that are succeeding are adapting to this trend by providing relevant and engaging content and features.

One study found that one in two smartphone owners use their devices at some point in the shopping process, even if they don’t purchase on mobile. With mobile growing faster than desktop in regards to traffic and sales, retailers need to go truly omnichannel in order to survive, by integrating digital touchpoints into the high street shopping experience.

Having seen the impact and the evolution of the iPhone over the past 10 years, and with technology being the main driving force for changing shopping behaviour, we’re excited to see what another 10 years could mean for retail. The relationship between online and instore is likely to become completely seamless.

If you want to learn more about how mobile apps are changing shopping, you can recap and watch our recent webinar with Neumob and Appboy here.

Reported by Samantha Rigg