72 Percent of Companies Claim They’re Ready to Get Real about Mobile

Across the world, leading industry analyst Juniper predicts that over 160 billion apps will be downloaded by 2017. The average smartphone owner now spends 127 minutes per day using mobile apps and owns about 40 apps on average. Of course, this mobile growth has spilled over into the contact center industry, where it is playing an increasingly large role for contact center managers and decision makers. And now, new research from IBM Tealeaf and eConsultancy confirms that if you’re not willing to take the mobile movement seriously, you’re bound to fall behind in the game.

In the companies’ “Reducing Customer Struggle” joint 2013 report – surveying over 500 business professionals for companies involved in ecommerce and e-business – it was revealed that an incredible 72 percent of companies plan to strengthen their mobile engagement efforts in the near future. Furthermore, companies noted increased investment and focus on mobile service channels.

Other important industry findings include:

• The number of companies who said that mobile represents more than one-fifth (or 20 percent) or their traffic has more than doubled over the past 12 months.
• The number of customers who purchased a product via a mobile device has also increased from 43 percent in 2012 to 48 percent in 2013.
• 40 percent of companies feel that delivering a positive customer experience is more challenging via mobile than via the Web.
• Approximately 55 percent of surveyed companies say they have already developed a mobile optimized site; 44 percent having developed an iPhone app and 33 percent an Android app.

These key industry insights should certainly help those in the contact center industry who may be grappling with the concept of digital customer service or who may be encountering problems with the online experience. For more details on the report, click here.