Asda m-commerce set to double in next six months
Asda has revealed that it has completed the first phase of its web-to-mobile integration strategy following launch of online grocery apps and mobile web sites for food, general merchandise and its George clothing range.
The supermarket now expects more than one-in-ten of its online orders to be placed via a mobile device by the end of 2012, as more of its customers choose to shop on the move with their smartphones.
Asda also revealed that over 10 million customers have registered online and that more than 40% of all orders placed on Asda Direct and George.com are now fulfilled in an Asda store. The supermarket said its iPhone app has been downloaded by more than half a million people in the last six months, and its new Android app has attracted 75,000 downloads in just a month. As a result 6% of the supermarket’s grocery orders are now placed on a mobile device with Asda expecting this figure to double in the next six months.
Judith McKenna, Asda’s chief operating officer, explained: “Gone are the days when we could label a customer as either a traditional or a dotcom shopper. Customers don’t think in terms of channels or devices, they want to shop with ease, compare prices at the touch of a button, and pick up a product or have it delivered with the minimum of fuss. As a result, the world of retailing is being transformed at a remarkable rate and opening up exciting opportunities for retailers like ourselves.
“In addition social media is changing the way that we interact with our customers. Our Facebook fans are the most engaged in retail globally, which means the conversations we are having are equivalent to word of mouth wildfire. This is beginning to make a real difference to our business, in terms of what we sell and how we sell it.”
Asda is now planning to deploy in-store QR codes to enable its customers to obtain additional product information and see other customer’s reviews and ratings when they are in-store.
