5 Mobile Retail Trends You Need to be Aware Of

Nearly every shopper bounces from store to store with two personal items at the ready: their wallet and mobile phone. While some traditional retailers might only focus on the first part of that equation, savvy brands must realize that the latter is of near equal importance. Here's what I've learned about retailers using mobile to build brand loyalty, improve the customer experience and boost sales:

1. Mobile is a priority for most retailers (and rightfully so). A Syniverse survey of decision makers at Fortune 1,000 retailers found that 92 percent consider mobile solutions to be "very important" or "important." Their goals? Half of the retail respondents hope to increase revenue, while 71 percent are using mobile to improve the customer experience.

2. A retailer's technology choices impact its mobile reach. More than half of consumers in developed countries own a smartphone, making apps an obvious way for retailers to reach them. That said, it takes a significant investment to develop and support an app for each mobile operating system (OS). That's why 86 percent of retail executives surveyed said they're investing in HTML5-based services, which provide an app-like user experience on any smartphone without the need to create unique versions for each OS.

3. Messaging remains an effective, growing way to reach consumers anywhere, anytime. Every smartphone and feature phone supports text and multimedia messaging (SMS and MMS), and most consumers are familiar with both. More than 70 percent of respondents already use messaging to attract and retain customers, and more than half use it to offer promotions and increase revenue. In spite of the advent of newer, flashier, yet siloed technology, I expect retailers to continue to use messaging because its efficacy is proven and it allows for ubiquitous reach across all phone systems, networks and models.