International study: 44% of leading retailers still don’t have an iPhone app

Despite drastic rises in mobile adoption, 44% of top international retailers still do not offer an iPhone application. That’s according to a new cross-country benchmark from Episerver, which combines research from eleven nations including the UK, US, Australia and countries across Europe.

The research, which benchmarked one hundred leading retailers around the world, also found that 46% do not provide an iPad-compatible application. Support for Android tablets is even less common, with 62% of retailers relying purely on mobile-compatible websites rather than Android-specific tablet apps.

Commenting on this finding, David Bowen, Director of Product Management at Episerver, said, “It’s surprising to see just how many of the world’s top retailers are failing to make the jump to a mobile-first approach. While mobile and responsive web design should be a retailer’s first priority given that web is more often a consumer’s first port of call, mobile apps are playing an increasingly dominant role in the customer journey. Mobile apps must factor in any online retailer’s strategy, enabling them to keep their business at the forefront of the customer’s mind and ensure products are never more than a click, tap or swipe away.”

Other findings from the Episerver study show that, across the eleven countries, UK retailers offer the best mobile shopping experiences, with John Lewis topping the list of 100 retailers. This is followed by the US’ Home Depot and Swedish-owned IKEA. Finnish retailers are the least likely to include mobile within their marketing or ecommerce strategies.

Interestingly, despite their significant presence within the mobile and retail markets, both Amazon UK and Amazon US failed to make it into the top five retailers for global mobile strategy.

To find out more about Episerver’s global mobile benchmark, or to download the individual national reports, click here