To help keep dinner-party conversations lively, I read publications like Internet Retailer, whose e-mail feed recently pointed to a survey from DemandWare, a mobile technology vendor.
Agreed, vendor-sponsored studies and white papers tend to validate the point of view of the company that paid for them (I should know; I have written a few). That said, they still can provide data that informs how we think about our part of the world.
In this case, DemandWare found that use of mobile technologies for product and price research is increasing (not much of a surprise there), and that brand loyalty can be dramatically affected by the quality of the mobile-search experience. Though less surprising, the second observation informs how publishers should think about selling direct.
As the report notes, “a single poor experience can have far-reaching consequences for retailers.” Direct sales is increasingly a high-stakes game. That doesn’t argue that publishers shouldn’t play, but it can’t be a sideline activity. Increasingly, you get just one shot.
