What Do Customers Want in a Mobile Retail App?

We all know how important the mobile retail app is these days.

Customers will only use so many of these before giving up and looking for a more universal platform, so having just the right mix of features and usability is of prime importance to getting users in the door.

A new study from ARC and research group Applause shows just what the customer wants to see in order to have the best chance at putting an app to work.

One of the biggest wins in a mobile app was the ability to control an experience. Some of the biggest non-retail apps allow users to find new options on hand when visiting a new city.

Unfamiliar territory could be quickly rendered down into palatable options, and all at a user’s discretion. Oddly, apps could find themselves on the end of “sentiment swings” fairly quickly as new features were added.

For instance, a new version of French fashion shop Spartoo meant big new gains with a new widget focused on shoes.

Features are a big deal for positive user experiences, but what about the downside? Users hate about what you’d expect: performance issues like freezes and blank screens, intrusive issues like ads that appear at the wrong times or in the wrong places, usability issues like limited payment options, and perhaps the most general of all “updates that seemingly weren’t tested prior to release,” a catch-all field that covers many of the aforementioned issues.

The takeaway here, meanwhile, is clear. For those building a retail app—and that should be just about everyone at this stage of the game, especially given how app sales were up almost 70 percent between 2014 and 2015—it’s important to offer plenty of useful, relevant options, and in a fashion where these options can be readily accessed and put to work.

Just as much, people want an app that works the first time, every time; while occasional glitches can be forgiven and should be expected by most any app user, these should be quickly corrected where ever such may happen to appear.

Those who offer the best experience are most likely to come out ahead in the end, and those who come out ahead are likely to see the biggest gains.

Focusing on the quality of experience above most everything else should be satisfied with the results generated.