Mobile Site vs. App – The Cold Hard Facts
December 3, 2010
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Donna Remillard
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As promised in a previous post, I thought I’d go over some of the pros and cons of a mobile site vs. a mobile app. There’s a lot to consider both before and after the decision is made, but to start here are some of the current facts.
According to an Internet Retailer Survey from September of 2010 retailers surveyed offered:
While there’s consensus that retailers need and want to leverage mobile to engage with their customers, there’s an on-going debate, with some very definite opinions, on whether a mobile site, an app or both is the right strategy. Further to that, there is also some discussion of whether an iPad is considered a mobile device and if it is, does it matter in this debate, since the screen size does not impose the same restrictions seen with mobile phones. I think I’ll leave that discussion for another time, since it’s another dimension with both overlap and distinction, but first let’s look at some straight facts on the pros and cons (as things stand today):
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Mobile Site (Pros and Cons) |
Mobile App (Pros and Cons)
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Universally accessible on any phone with a robust browser.
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Dedicated to each device, requires analysis and strategy tuned to customer segment. While some retailers can identify specific device adoption preferences of their customer base, this is difficult for others, especially those entering non-US markets.
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Initial investment and on-going maintenance is simplified with one code base.
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Requires investment to develop and maintain for each of the different devices (e.g. iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and Android). However, recent hybrid solutions such as Appcelerator are changing this to a certain degree.
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Slower browse speed.
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Better performance.
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Limits of functionality may not provide the experience of an app or even the web site (e.g. Flash is an issue as well as some JavaScript). Difficult to optimize for screen size, since each device is different.
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Rich experience optimized for the specific device.
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Cannot leverage some additional device capabilities (e.g. camera, accelerometer/ gyroscope, or push notifications).
Note: Some early reports indicate that GPS cannot be leveraged on the iPhone, but as of OS 3.0 GPS/location functionality can be accessed through Safari. Apple’s HTML5 continues to advance capabilities in mobile browsing with video, audio and some limited data caching. Also with some limited gyroscope functionality Safari browsers can take advantage of portrait/landscape views.
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Can leverage additional device capabilities (e.g. camera, accelerometer/gyroscope for “shake” functionality and push notifications).
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A mobile optimized version of the web site, functionality is typically a subset of site functionality rendered for the smaller screen.
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Can provide additional functionality over site and can integrate with the website.
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Easier to find through auto re-direct.
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Hard to discover (e.g. Apple CEO Steve Jobs reported that there are over 300k apps in the App Store as of September 2010). Discoverability can be improved by tying iTunes store links to an existing site.
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Easy to launch and update.
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Requires ‘acceptance’ before launch and a small setup fee ($99). Updates also require acceptance, which can delay getting critical bug fixes and updates to end users.
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Off-line usage - Relies on network access which could be a problem for customers travelling and facing high data roaming charges, no connectivity on planes and/or dropped connections.
Note however, this could change somewhat by taking advantage of HTML 5’s offline capabilities.
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Off-line usage – Available to iPod touch customers or iPads without a data plan as well as customers experiencing connectivity problems.
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Adoption and usage - No download/install required.
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Adoption and usage – Customers don’t necessarily want to download an app for every site they want to visit and will quickly abandon the app if it’s not providing value.
Adoption and usage – Loyal customers may be more willing to download an app giving retailers the opportunity to engage with their most valuable customers more personally and more frequently.
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Leverage App store for additional marketing and engagement with your customers (e.g. iAds, App Ratings & Reviews, even App update alerts provide additional customer touch points).
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As I pointed out for many of these, technology is changing rapidly to address deficiencies and introduce new innovations, and of course each of these may carry significant to insignificant weight depending on your goals for mobile. While the pros and cons may shift and change for each, there is clearly value in each to be considered.
And Let’s Not Forget About SMS
You don’t hear quite as much industry talk about SMS anymore, but it is a ubiquitous channel. Almost everyone has a text-enabled cell phone (1.5 Trillion in the U.S. in 2009) with a 95% read rate on opt-in mobile marketing messages. With those kinds of stats SMS can be a significant piece of a mobile strategy for some merchants. With that in mind, look for another post dedicated to this topic.
Still Confused on Your Mobile Strategy?
Mobile Site? Mobile Apps? Text marketing? All of the above? What devices? What order? Well the good news and the bad news is … there isn’t one answer. Each retailer, product line, and customer segment is going to engage with mobile in unique ways. So although I can’t provide one answer to the above questions, here is some advice to keep in mind in determining your unique mobile strategy:
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“There is no such thing as a mobile strategy, just a multichannel strategy.” Develop a strategy to support other parts of your organization.
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An m.commerce site is foundational. According to a recent
Taptu report, the mobile based browser market will grow much faster than the app market, indicating a mobile site will be necessary long term for browsing and/or as apps link off to mobile site pages for foundational functions and services.
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Consider an App for enhanced experiences and additional engagement of loyal customers.
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If you are considering an App, don’t consider all devices equal in terms of customer usage and desires. For example, Blackberry has long been considered the preferred device for corporate users, who may have different needs or habits of their device. For these corporate/Blackberry users these handsets are often locked down by IT, so users may not be able to install anything. Even within the Apple domain, customers are using the iPhone and iPad in very different scenarios and therefore functionality should be tailored to that usage.
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Look into SMS for additional ways to engage with some customer segments and markets.
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Understand your customer segment and how they are currently engaging with and want to engage with your brand using their mobile. This includes what devices they are using. Some of the pros and cons listed may not be applicable to your business or your customers.
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Roll out your mobile strategy in phases.
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Enhance and upgrade based on what are your analytics are telling you.
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Keep a close eye on emerging trends and changes in technology. The above pros and cons may shift dramatically as technology advances and innovations emerge. As I stated in a previous post, the iPad has significantly changed my usage and expectations of the web. These types of innovations will no doubt influence shopper expectation of web, mobile and off-line shopping.