Worldwide there is a strong growth in smartphone owners in comparison to previous years and the number of them will surpass the 1,4 billion mark worldwide by the end of 2013 (statista, 2013). Today, more than one third of world’s population and more than 40 percent of Germany’s population own a smartphone (GS1, 2013, 5, statista, 2013).
Mobile phones and other mobiles are becoming part of our everyday life and are changing the way people manage it. They are the most used daily consumer good in the world and by this are becoming personal assistants that give users an always-connected and always-on lifestyle – a mobile lifestyle. Users are able to do everything from everywhere at any time with it: from doing business, communicating or playing interactive games to shopping.
The increasing number of mobile devices and by this the anywhere accessibility of the Internet have an impact on the consumers’ behavior in stationary stores. Customers do price checks with their smartphone, watching product videos or reading product reviews in the store and more often buy the desired product elsewhere. Retailers face the challenge of understanding how customers interact with their mobiles while shopping and take advantage of any opportunities to increase customer conversion and gain loyal customers (comscore, 2012).
Customers expect mobile offerings. Today some retailers already respond on these demand and development, and try with new possibilities of mobile marketing to bring customers back from digital world into their stores (KPMG, 2012, 38), but they have to add value to all their offering and products and even to new technological possibilities like mobile services, which do not automatically generate advantages over competition (Rudolph/Emrich, 2008, 266).
Mobile services in retail are services, that can be used independently of temporal and spatial restraints, and that are accessed through a mobile device in retail environment like i.e. mobile couponing receiving or paying with mobile phone. When launching such a service the retailer has to be sure whether a mobile service has the power to influence customer satisfaction inside the store. Customer satisfaction is the important connection between activities of the retailer and the resulting behaviour like repeat purchasing, cross selling, recommendation or complaint and by this relevant for economical success of a company (Homburg, 2008, 19).
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Objective
1.2 Approach and methodology
2 Change in retail environment
2.1 Megatrends, technological developments and changing behaviour of the customer
2.2 Mobile device
3 The mobile environment
3.1 Mobile context
3.1.1 E-business and e-commerce
3.1.2 Mobility, m-business and m-commerce
3.2 Characteristics of mobile economy
3.2.1 Ubiquity – the ‘anywhere’-feature
3.2.2 Reachability (‘always on’-feature) and immediacy (the ‘anytime’-feature)
3.2.3 Context sensitivity - Localization
3.2.4 Personalization and identification
3.2.5 Pro-active functionality and interactivity
3.3 Mobile Marketing
3.3.1 Permission marketing
3.3.2 Push communication
3.3.3 Pull communication
3.4 Mobile services
3.4.1 Customer Value
3.4.2 Value added service = mobile service
3.4.3 Classifying mobile services
4 Customer satisfaction
4.1 Definition of customer satisfaction
4.2 Confirmation/disconformation theory
4.3 Emergence and effects of customer satisfaction
4.4 Multi-factor approach
5 Success Factors and of mobile services in retail
5.1 Customer related
5.1.1 Security / Trust
5.1.2 Availability of technology
5.1.3 Convenience
5.1.4 Individualization and Personalization
5.1.5 Social connection
5.2 Technological related factors
5.2.1 Usability and simplicity
5.2.2 Context and experience
5.2.3 Effectiveness and Efficiency
5.2.4 Entertainment and rewarding mechanisms
5.2.5 Cost of usage
5.3 Environmental Factors
5.3.1 Legal regulations
5.3.2 Social-cultural factors
6 Analysis of mobile services in retail
6.1 Technological situation in retail
6.2 Customer readiness and development
6.3 Functionality and evaluation of important services
6.4 Mobile Internet in retail: information, price check and social connection
6.4.1 Examples of mobile Internet in retail
6.4.2 Mobile Internet in retail and customer satisfaction
6.5 Mobile messaging in retail: mobile couponing
6.5.1 Examples of mobile couponing
6.5.2 Mobile couponing and customer satisfaction
6.6 Mobile tagging in retail: extended packaging and augmented reality
6.6.1 Examples of extended Packaging
6.6.2 Extended packaging and customer satisfaction
6.7 Mobile Loyaltycard
6.7.1 Examples of mobile loyalty cards
6.7.2 Mobile loyalty cards and customer satisfaction
6.8 Mobile Payment & self-checkout
6.8.1 Example of mobile payment
6.8.2 Mobile scanning and self-checkout
6.8.3 Examples of mobile scanning and self-checkout
6.8.4 Mobile Payment & mobile scanning with checkout and customer satisfaction
6.9 The convergences of value enhancing mobile services: the mobile wallet
6.10 Market research
6.10.1 Research objectives
6.10.2 Research method and conduction
6.10.3 Survey results
6.11 Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Topics
The primary objective of this thesis is to investigate the influence of mobile services used during the shopping process in the retail environment on customer satisfaction and to determine their general usefulness for retailers.
- Identification of mobile services currently offered within retail stores.
- Determination of general success factors for the introduction of mobile services.
- Evaluation of customer awareness and usage of existing mobile services.
- Assessment of the added value provided by these services to the customer.
- Analysis of the relationship between mobile services and customer satisfaction.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2.3 Context sensitivity - Localization
The feature of ubiquity enables the use of a device in various environmental situations. Information about the situation, the position and the time constitute the context of the usage. Context sensitivity is the automatic detection and evaluation of environmental information to the position of the user (Reichwald/Meier/Fremuth, 2002, 12). The user himself, the mobile device (i.e. location), the mobile network or other available external sources (i.e. database information) contribute contextual information. In this context ambient intelligence technology becomes relevant. The main task is to recognize the context as temperature, location, user movements, schedule, user habits and engagement (Karr, 2013). The processing of all context information results in a user profile, that allows adaptation of a mobile offering, which results in a better solution for the user in that specific situation (Weil, 2007, 38).
According to Zobel (2001, 51) there are different types of context to which mobile offerings can refer: Local context. The simplest kind of context detection is determination of user’s location. The so-called "radio cell method" determines the position by query on which mobile radio mast the mobile device is logged at that current time. The inclusion of multiple masts and their geographical location can narrow down the determination of location to about hundred meters. Modern smartphones are web-enabled and beyond that are equipped with a GPS module. If these conditions are met, the location of the device can often be narrowed down to several meters (Weil, 2007, 39).
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter provides an overview of the growth in smartphone ownership and the resulting shift in consumer behavior, setting the stage for the research objective.
2 Change in retail environment: This chapter explores how megatrends like "lifestyle and convenience" and the mobile device itself have fundamentally altered the retail landscape.
3 The mobile environment: This chapter defines the core concepts of mobile business, mobile commerce, and mobile marketing, and outlines the key characteristics of the mobile economy.
4 Customer satisfaction: This chapter discusses the theoretical foundations of customer satisfaction, including the Confirmation/Disconfirmation theory and the multi-factor approach.
5 Success Factors and of mobile services in retail: This chapter categorizes success factors into customer-related, technological-related, and environmental factors essential for mobile service adoption.
6 Analysis of mobile services in retail: This chapter evaluates specific mobile service categories, such as mobile internet, couponing, tagging, and payment, and presents the findings of an online survey.
Keywords
Mobile Services, Retail, Customer Satisfaction, Smartphone, Mobile Marketing, Mobile Payment, Mobile Couponing, Augmented Reality, Customer Loyalty, Ubiquity, Personalization, Context Sensitivity, Success Factors, Consumer Behavior, Mobile Commerce
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research examines the integration of mobile services within stationary retail stores and analyzes how these services influence customer satisfaction and retention.
What are the primary themes discussed?
Key themes include the evolution of retail, the technical and functional characteristics of mobile environments, customer satisfaction theories, and the practical application of mobile tools like couponing and augmented reality.
What is the main research question?
The work aims to identify which mobile services are offered, what success factors drive their adoption, and whether these services provide genuine added value that correlates with increased customer satisfaction.
Which methodology is employed?
The thesis utilizes a combination of comprehensive primary and secondary literature analysis, supplemented by a primary market research study conducted via an online survey.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers the theoretical definition of the mobile environment, an in-depth analysis of factors influencing customer satisfaction, and a practical evaluation of mobile services ranging from mobile internet to mobile wallets.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
The work is characterized by terms such as mobile services, retail, customer satisfaction, mobile marketing, mobile payment, and consumer behavior in the digital age.
How do 'Must-be' requirements affect satisfaction?
According to the Kano model, 'Must-be' requirements are basic expectations; if they are not met, they lead to dissatisfaction, but their fulfillment does not significantly increase satisfaction.
What role does the 'Mobile Wallet' play?
The mobile wallet is identified as a converging point for various mobile services, combining payment functions with loyalty programs and digital identification to create a unified, value-adding user experience.
Why is data privacy a critical concern for mobile services?
The study highlights that high levels of privacy concern exist among consumers, making transparent data usage and opt-in choices essential for building the trust required for mobile service adoption.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Joern Toellner (Autor:in), 2014, Mobile services in retail and their influence on customer satisfaction, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/271547
