MMA: Number of brands that don’t have mobile-ready sites is “embarrassing”, says Argos mobile lead
The number of top 100 brands that still don’t have a mobile-optimised site is “embarrassing”, according to Argos’ strategic development manager for mobile, Ben Murr.
Speaking at the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) forum in London today, for which The Drum is media partner, Murr said that the current statistics circulating around the number of brands that aren’t mobile-ready is embarrassing and hopefully something that will not last for long.
The IAB is among those to have released figures showing that more than 40 per cent of the top 100 brands in the UK still don’t have a mobile-optimised websites.
“Frankly it’s embarrassing given how important mobile is. Hopefully that is something that will go away soon,” he said.
Argos, which launched its first mobile site in 2010, is now seeing 16 per cent of total sales coming via mobile devices, according to Murr. “This is a staggering increase, it’s up 124 per cent year on year – that’s more than double.”
Murr advised all brands to ensure that mobile sites or apps aren’t just launched and then left, but are continuously nurtured and populated with content that is of use to people.
“Mobile needs constant love, it can’t be launched and then left, it needs constant attention,” he said.
He also advised brands not to separate mobile but to view it in relation to other media channels, and to think of the customer first, rather than the channel.
“I see a lot of ads saying what is available in-store, on the web and on mobile, but customers aren’t thinking of separate channels. As a retailer you need to think about how they are behaving not what channels to be on. Think customer not channel,” he said.
He also said that it is the responsibility of the retailer to ensure “pain points” are removed for customers, enabling a seamless cross-device shopping experience.
“We can be guilty of letting the customer take the pain, but we should be taking it. Don’t let the customer see how complex the back end system and processes are,” he said.
His comments follow those of Unilever’s director of global media innovation Jay Altschuler, who said mobile is the "connective tissue" that binds campaigns together.