Who owns mobile in your company? Does it reside with your e-commerce team? Does it fall within marketing? Perhaps IT? Or is it a team made up of representatives from across the organization?
The mobile conundrum is a game changer for the retail industry. Taking a macro view, the implications of adoption across an organization can revolutionize the speed at which services are delivered for employees or customers. Basically, if you’re in retail and you’re not thinking about how mobile is impacting your brand, you’re already behind.
At NRF, we’ve had a bit of a mobile conundrum ourselves. Piece-by-piece we have dissected what mobile means to each of our communities. With Shop.org, we’ve evaluated how mobile is changing the seamless multichannel consumer experience. At ARTS, we’ve developed a blueprint for retailers looking to jump into the space. Within our loss prevention community, we’ve evaluated the many ways mobile can both help and hinder asset protection. And with our CIO’s next month, we’ll be talking about how technology impacts data gathering and a customized user experience.
Through all of this, what have we learned? Well, that there aren’t too many groups – none to be exact – who are taking a holistic approach on the issue and looking at how technology impacts companies at the macro level. With more than 9,000 members, including the most innovative retail companies and solution providers in the world, we know we have the expertise on hand to provide thought leadership on what the industry needs for practical implementation of mobile retailing.
And with that, we – along with our members and a forward-thinking external task force – launched today the Integrated Mobile Initiative (IMI), an offering of thought leadership, educational content and events, and original research that will serve as a barometer of where we are and where we can go with mobile technology development. Along with the launch comes a full resource center, www.nrfmobile.com, which will serve as our platform for knowledge sharing among experts.
Regardless of whether you work in retail IT, marketing, or operations, mobile will (if it hasn’t already) impact your work and the customer experience your brand can provide to the customers that support your bottom line. I encourage you to take a look at our IMI resources, share them with your peers, and send us feedback on what you like, what you need to see more of, and how you’re changing the game in mobile retail for you brand.