Mobile Footprint – Necessity or Luxury?

We are all familiar with the mobile industry and how it has exploded over the last few years to become the dominant area for technological advancement and competition. Seemingly, every business is looking to enhance their proposition by having a footprint within the mobile landscape.

Rolling back the years to pre 2000, and most businesses were perfectly happy with their traditional bricks and mortar presence. The dot com boom of the early 2000’s opened up opportunities for businesses to reach new audiences, both locally and on a global level. Fast forward to the present day and any new business setting up, carefully plans a mobile strategy to sit alongside its web and offline marketing strategy.

The reason why this has all happened is the widely adopted usage of smartphones and tablets across the globe. From developed countries such as the UK and the USA to emerging markets in Brazil, China and India, mobile technology has allowed the globe to become a more level playing field.

With that being the case, the focus of today’s blog is to highlight whether a mobile footprint is a necessity or a luxury for businesses today? Let’s find out below…

• Meeting Customer Expectations
With more and more people accessing the Internet and consuming information through hand held devices such as smartphones and tablets, there has never been a greater need for businesses to develop a mobile presence. Simply having a website that does not render well on a mobile device or is not responsive can have a negative effect in terms of web traffic a business attracts to its site.

Technologically savvy customers now expect the majority if not all sites they visit to be optimised for their viewing pleasure. A comparison between a desktop site and a mobile friendly site highlights the many navigational challenges a customer faces.

• Awareness of the competition
With many businesses, large or small, embracing mobile technology, any business that resists the mobile revolution is likely to be playing catch up. As highlighted with the above bullet point, as customer expectations shift to the mobile industry it is paramount that businesses stay ahead of the competition and present their business in the best possible way.

With competing businesses all vying for the attention of their customers, a simple change such as a mobile app or mobile friendly website can help a business attract and retain customers for the long term.

• Revenue and profitability
The mobile industry has also opened up opportunities for businesses to boost their revenue stream via m-commerce (mobile commerce) and in app advertising (banner ads). For instance, whereas a traditional bricks and mortar store has designated opening and closing times, a mobile shop will allow businesses to trade good/services 365 days a year.

Allowing customers the freedom and flexibility to place orders and complete transactions on the move is all part of modern day business. Every business should embrace this change and view it as a necessity rather than a luxury when it comes to the long-term success of their business.

• Overall
As we have seen, for the modern day business a mobile footprint can be viewed as a necessity to evolve with the times rather than as a luxury that can be executed at some point in the future. With customers becoming more technically advanced, it is crucial for businesses to engage with customers at every level, from web, mobile and in store.

To find out how you can help businesses join the mobile revolution, please contact the head office team today.