John Lewis is number one UK retailer for mobile commerce, reveals new Episerver study

John Lewis offers the best consumer mobile shopping experience, closely followed by Argos and Amazon UK, according to a new Mobile Commerce 2014 report, published today by Episerver.  However, the annual study of the UK’s top 20 retailers*, now in its third year, also reveals many are struggling to deliver the sophisticated and friction free mobile commerce experience that consumers now expect, reflected by an average score of 47%, compared to 55% in 2013.

The Episerver study, “Mobile commerce 2014: serving the omnichannel customer”, scored the consumer retail experience across mobile sites, and Android and iOS apps on both smartphones and tablets. The criteria, updated for 2014, reflect the evolving demands of consumers, revealed by new Episerver research conducted with 1,000 UK smartphone and tablet users. These include location-based tools, omnichannel experiences such as ‘click and collect’, a direct line to contact customer services, personalized content and social follows and sharing. 

John Lewis tops the UK retailer table with 75%, demonstrating a consistently good mobile strategy across its Android and iOS apps, and mobile site. Apps deliver smooth experiences that reflect the main site and John Lewis branding with great user experience features, for example ‘double tap to zoom’ on product images, an in-store crossover feature in the form of a barcode scanner and a location-enabled store finder. 

Overall, retailers scored lower in 2014 compared to last year but, as David Bowen, Commerce Product Manager at Episerver explains, this time the scoring criteria asked retailers to do much more than get the basics right: “Smartphone and tablet ownership is increasing and retailers face a big challenge in meeting the rising expectations of this growing group of mobile-savvy consumers.  Consumers are used to shopping via their mobile devices and expect their experience to transcend to other channels. The top performing retailers in 2014 are meeting these demands, offering added value features that mix clicks with bricks, personalized content and a consistent, quality experience to every user regardless of the device and platform.”

Scores from the leading 20 retailers varied from 75% to a poor 8%, with an overall average of 47%, indicating there is significant room for improvement for retailers to live up to customer expectations.

The top five performing retailers are:

1. John Lewis – 75%

2. Argos – 72%

3. Amazon UK – 71%

4. Amazon.com – 70%

5. Debenhams – 69%

Other retailers that performed well against the new criteria include Tesco (67%), Your M&S (65%) and Next (60%).

Currys is worthy of note as, while not an overall performer due to a lack of any apps, its mobile site website received the best score of all 20 retailers. The easy to use site adapts to screen or browser size, has touch-enabled elements and delivers many of the services expected by consumers such as product reviews, customer service contacts and location tracking maps. It is also one of the only mobile sites or apps to utilise video content and, according to Google’s PageSpeed Insights, is one of the fastest to load.

David Bowen, Commerce Product Manager at Episerver, adds: “In mobile commerce it is the innovative little touches that make the biggest difference, for example the John Lewis ‘double tap to zoom’ message, Asda using location-based services to provide petrol prices at the nearest store on its app home screen and ASOS using editorial content to highlight celebrity looks. In order to differentiate themselves and gain competitive advantage in what is now a mobile first industry, retailers must connect content with commerce and personalise the experience for a diverse, and growing, group of consumers.”