Retailers slow on social media and mobile uptake
Only one in five of the UK's top 100 retailers has a mobile-optimised version of its website and many are ignoring social media shopping altogether, according to new research.
While 65 percent of retailers have a Facebook 'fan' page, only four percent have an integrated shopping function within their fan pages, the study shows.
It analysed the social and mobile commerce sites of the retailers in the annual IMRG/Hitwise HOT 100 list, which is topped by Amazon and includes the likes of Tesco, Marks & Spencer, Play.com, Asos and Argos.
None of the top 100 retailers enable potential shoppers to make purchases within Facebook, although clothes retailer Asos has gone some way to rectifying that with its plans to launch a Facebook store.
Damian Hanson, CEO of One iota, the firm which carried out the research, said "many of the country's biggest brands" are still lagging behind when it comes to mobile and social channels.
Hanson said: “This will be the year when retailers need to implement shopping functions across multiple channels in a fully integrated way so that shoppers can buy from the brands they love, when and wherever they want. Failure to do so will result in a loss of business through poor conversion and engagement."
The findings did show that retailers that have invested time in Facebook are building a buoyant following. There are nearly seven million people signed up to the fan pages of the 100 retailers surveyed.
Arcadia-owned Topshop leads the pack with over 1.2 million fans.
"Facebook is set to become the next destination for online shopping and retailers must engage shoppers where they spend the majority of their time online," Hanson said.