Many Retailers Questioning Viability of Indoor-Location Mobile Apps, ABI Says
Retailer demand for indoor-location technologies for use with mobile shopping apps continues to grow strongly with installations set to break 200,000 stores globally by the end of 2016, ABI Research said in a Wednesday report. However, though costs to deploy…
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and manage an indoor-location solution in a store are low, retail has yet to see an app or deployment that exploits the available technology in a way that “captures the imagination of the public at grand scale,” said the research firm. It predicts “a shift away from traditional retail apps and proximity-based advertising will unlock the true capabilities of indoor-location technology in retail,” it said. “Retailers remain trapped between the need for an effective mobile strategy and a failure to drive app adoption,” said the firm, which estimates in-store app usage remains stuck at below 10 percent among the many shoppers with smartphones that enter the store. “App fatigue is a reality for many consumers,” it said. “The last thing they need is a separate, unhelpful app for every store they visit. As a result, some retailers are reconsidering the viability of mobile apps altogether.”