2014 Readers Choice Survey: Mobility

Download the full 2014 Mobility Report

Thanks to an overwhelming reader response, this list expanded to a full Top 10, proving that mobility is now top of mind for consumer goods executives. Michael Forhez, director, Consumer Products & Retail Practice, CSC, explains how this market has matured and previews what’s still to come.

Explain the current state of mobile initiatives in the consumer goods industry?
Forhez: Mobility now has a front row seat as a strategic, direct to consumer marketing asset, with both retailers and manufacturers clearly seeing what’s possible with all of us tethered to our devices on a nearly 18/7 basis. As a means to growing brand value, however, and with the objective of increasing sales, mobility is still in the early stages of the maturity curve.  

According to the Mobile Marketing Association spending on mobile marketing will reach $10.46 billion by the end of 2013. By 2015, that number is expected to climb to an estimated $200 billion.

How the money is allocated in consumer goods, from site development, to promotion planning, to customer service will hold important clues as to the thinking held by the executives utilizing mobility to advance their company’s objectives. Consumers, however, will be the ultimate decider where it concerns what they want, what they will pay and when they will buy.

Can you comment on this list?
Forhez: There isn’t much of a surprise at seeing the carriers, like AT&T, at the top since they hold the keys to the spectrum, providing broadcast range, device and network management. The biggest, most capable, players also have a long standing history for offering enterprise and consumer applications giving them an early lead in the race. That said, it will be the industry specific apps along with the process and systems integrators that are likely to rule in the next phase as consumer goods companies move to more fully leverage all the inherent potential here. These providers will cover everything from device and data management, to the algorithms for sentiment and offer management, to the consulting for application design, development and deployment.  

How are companies using mobility today? How do you expect that to change in the near future?  
Forhez: The implications of mobility for manufacturers, and retail partners, are significant across all the core processes, from raw commodity sourcing for just-in-time manufacturing and distribution to marketing, in-store merchandising, promotion planning and customer service.   

Mobility is about to drive a degree of transformation, which will go well beyond putting applications on devices. We are now moving into an era where true, real-time, consumer engagement will not only be possible, but necessary for survival.

It’s hard to know, then, what commerce for retail and consumer goods will look like in three to five years, but it might be worth recalling that there was once a company known as Tower Records and, in what seemed like almost overnight, it was gone. Today, we can buy our music one song at a time, for 90 cents, anytime we wish, on any device we have handy. Stay tuned!