Adidas Confirmed app

Retailers Making Major Modifications to Mobile Apps for 2015

February 12, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

While 2015 isn’t exactly a new year any more, what with it having been around a little under six weeks, there’s already one major trend shaping up for 2015, and that’s a lot of changes to mobile apps for retailers.

A new report suggests that at least four major organizations in Great Britain are looking to make some serious changes in the mobile apps they use, and they likely won’t be alone.

The reports suggest that London retailers Homebase, House of Fraser, and Adidas have all launched new mobile apps in 2015, as well as St. Pancras station. The updates, meanwhile, vary in content, but all seem to have one central focus: making a better experience for the user.

Homebase, for example, is augmenting its platform to be useful on multiple devices, working with both iOS 7 and Android. Users will be able to check to see if certain items are in stock as well as browse the entire catalog to see what’s available overall, as well as what’s immediately available at certain locations.

Users will even be able to use GPS to find an area store. Adidas, meanwhile, recently brought out the “Adidas Confirmed” system, which allows users to reserve a particular set of sneakers to pick up later. It also makes for an instant confirmation system when it comes to product availability. House of Fraser, a department store chain, brought out an app for Android customers that came complete with a stock checker that could be personalized accordingly, looking not only for the things you want, but even some things you weren’t immediately aware of.

There are some patterns emerging—companies seem to be rushing to embrace the multiple-platform approach, as well as the ability to search stock and reserve material—but there are plenty of differences here. One excellent explanation of the likely cause behind this rush of change came from Kantar Retail’s director of digital insights Steve Mader, who noted that apps were no longer a “nice-to-have” for retailers, but rather were “…a vital part of effective sales, customer engagement and brand loyalty strategies.”

For the most part, this is quite true. Users want mobile apps for shopping, and want said apps to work well. Users want ways to contact a business through the app, and according to reports, those apps that don’t work well will be punished quite strenuously; it’s not so much that users will stop using the app, but will in many cases stop visiting the entire brand. Basically, if Foot Locker’s mobile app doesn’t work well, people won’t buy from Foot Locker at all, not on mobile, on the Web, or in stores. That’s a development that puts a lot at stake for retailers, and goes a long way toward explaining why there’s so much change in the mobile market of late.

Change is inevitable in business, and we’re seeing just one of the latest such changes in process. We’re likely to see plenty more changes to come, as more retailers realize the need to have a top-notch mobile app to support brick-and-mortar and online operations, and plenty more features to follow.