Cisco Study Shows Mobile Providers Strong in the ‘Must Haves’ of E-Commerce, Lag on Innovation in Online Channels

Cisco Study Shows Mobile Providers Strong in the ‘Must Haves’ of E-Commerce, Lag on Innovation in Online Channels

To help mobile service providers transform business and the online customer experience, Cisco® today announced the results of a worldwide mobile e-commerce study. The study, conducted by Cisco’s Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), finds that even though mobile service providers are ranked at the bottom of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, they are strong in basic e-commerce execution. However, when it comes to innovation, the mobile service providers fall far behind, while the major nonmobile retailers lead the innovation curve. The study’s key findings show that improving multichannel collaboration, incorporating “smart” capabilities, such as guided selling tools, and increasing interactivity and community dialogue help transform the customer experience.

Online sales are projected to reach $329 billion in the United States by 2010, with almost half of all U.S. households shopping online, a nearly 40 percent increase since 2005. The study shows that to tap into this burgeoning channel, executing a superior customer experience through their online channels is critical for mobile providers. To date, online sales for mobile providers remain sluggish in the low to mid single digits.

In order to compete, mobile service providers must view their online channel as an integral part of their customer strategy and company brand. It is a low-cost channel for acquisition, upselling and service, as well a crucial part of the customer experience.

“Customers do not differentiate between the online and offline channels of mobile providers; they see both as one company with the promise of one brand,” says Mohsen Moazami, vice president of Cisco IBSG. “Both the stores and the e-channels should cross-promote and drive traffic to each other to maximize the value both to the customer and the mobile provider. Operating the online channel apart from the store will only be costly in the long run.”

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