Our Whitepaper focuses on retail mobile solutions and endeavors to decipher the reasons behind retailers taking the mobile plunge, the seismic shift in the consumer behavior, the growth engines behind retail mobility, opportunities, challenges and advantages for various stakeholders and a look into the days ahead.

1. Retail Mobility
Welcoming the consumer on mobile

2. The retail industry has witnessed a massive change in the recent years. While the internet revolution
of the last decade enabled shopping anytime, anywhere; the mobile revolution led by smartphones
and applications propelled on-the-go shopping and made a radical shift in the way brands, consumers
and retailers interact with each other. As consumers use mobile devices and apps to research, browse,
compare and shop, mobility solutions are poised to become a significant business channel in retail.
Retailers too are realizing this and hence are adopting mobile, quite enthusiastically, resulting in Tablet
catalogs, mobile billings, mCoupons, mobile apps and much more. The growing surge in mobility usage,
both at the consumer and the retailer’s end makes for a riveting case study. Our cover story, this month,
focuses on retail mobile solutions and endeavors to decipher the reasons behind retailers taking the
mobile plunge, the seismic shift in the consumer behavior, the growth engines behind retail mobility,
opportunities, challenges and advantages for various stakeholders and a look into the days ahead.
The Seismic Shift
Which enterprise segment will mobile impact the most?
Retail
Health
Field Force
Sales
Privacy
Education
Others
Energy
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
source : www.chetansharma.com
Walk into a store, search for the product, compare between various brand choices, pay the bill and walk-
out with the desired item in your bag. A few years back, it used to be the only way to shop. The advent
of e-commerce made a major shift in the way people shop; allowing consumers to shop from anywhere,
sitting in-front of their computer and without leaving their work or home, dismantling all the boundaries
and giving them access to a global marketplace. Online retailers, armed with a new, low-cost business
model created a competitive marketplace giving a run-for- money to their brick and mortar counterparts.
The arrival of mobile devices, the transformation from feature phones to smartphones, the arrival of
Tablets and a galore of applications simply changed the order. Starting with SMS advertising to mobile
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 2

3. websites and then to exclusive apps for branding and retailing, m-commerce brought a sea-change to
the consumer shopping, in-sync with the new mobile lifestyle. Today, using advanced mobile applications,
retailers have a direct communication channel to interact with their target audience, inform and convince
them about products and influence their decision making.
Mobile Commerce Sales (in billions)
$31
$25
$19
$14
$10
$6
US$(billions) $3
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
% of eCommerce 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7%
Source : Forrester Research Mobile Commerce Forecast,2011 to 2016(US)
Note : eCommerce includes moble media and content, retail, travel, coupons/deals and services.
Does not inlcude mobile ringtones, mobile gaming or mobile video
Research shows that mobility is slowly gaining traction in retail. In United States, mobile commerce is
predicted to generate more than $31 billion (from $3 billion in 2010) in sales making for over 7 percent
(from just 1% in 2010) of all e-commerce sales in 2016. The mobile retail channel is swiftly moving from
being an alternate communication channel to being a primary channel for interaction with consumers.
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 3

4. The Engines
Global Smartphone Sales
Millions of Units
400
Millions of Units
200
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Source : Mobile Services : Global Outlook
2009 Parks Associates
Consumers prefer to shop on Tablets when possible
Inferences
I use my iPad/tablet more than my 65%
72% iPad > Smartphone
smartphone for shopping related activities 67%
51%
It is easy to visit and/or buy from retail sites 60%
62% iPad ≥ PC
on my iPad/Tablet as it is on my computer
57%
42%
I would buy/have bought from a retail 73%
website using my iPad/tablet 70% Interest in +
64%
48% actual iPad shopping
Base: 2,511 Tablet owners
(percent agreeing)
Source : Forrester/Bizrate Insights Q2 2011 Tablet Commerce Gen Y Gen X Boomers Seniors
Flash Online Survey
Several factors are at play to drive the mobile retail boom. Mobile devices (smartphones and later-on
Tablets) and applications have become part of a shopper’s life. With today’s shoppers embracing mobility
as a way of life, retailers have no choice but to sync their strategy with the changing mindset. Mobile
apps allow retailers to make their interactions with the consumers, engaging and responsive, creating an
appealing brand impression and occupying mind space of the prospective buyers. Moreover, retailers are
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 4

5. adapting to mobility solutions buoyed by other business factors as well. The competitive retail marketplace
and recent economic downturn has compelled retailers to look for low-cost, agile and innovative solutions
that provide them with broader and faster reach-to-the market. Mobility solutions, when integrated with
the existing ecosystem, can also play a big role in accentuating the shopping experience. A product
demonstration on a tablet or price-comparison with a scan of the product not only helps to shorten the
buying cycle but also helps the consumers take informed decisions.
Opportunities for Retailers
Today, mobility in retail has not only become a vital channel for branding and advertising but also is an
enabler that can act as a force multiplier, in near and long-term future, to the overall operations in a retail
organization. Retail mobility solutions are making processes leaner and swifter not only with their own
capacity but by also complementing other technologies. In short, mobility is creating new possibilities
for retailers to manage their stores and make shopping effortless and pleasurable. From helping their
consumer locate their nearest stores, to browsing catalogues on-the-go to read reviews of products and
compare prices, retail mobility solutions have the power to integrate various components of the buying
cycle into a seamless and fun exercise.
Coupons
Price Extended
Comparisons Packaging
Advertising
& M-commerce
Promotions
Loyalty Opportunities In-store
Programs Navigation
for Retailers
Scanning Payment
Check-outs
Shopping Store
Lists Locators
Billing
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 5

6. The Big Gains
Enterprise Mobility Investment Benefits in Retail Setting
Improved Customer Loyalty & 28%
Repeat Business
Increased Mobile Worker 27%
Productivity
Increased Sales/Revenues 26%
Reduced Asset Failures 24%
Reduced Operating Costs
19%
Improve Real Time Decision
19%
Making
0% 10% 20% 30%
Source : VDC Research Group-Mobility in Retail, 2011
One of the key factors behind the huge enthusiasm within retailers to adopt mobility is the game-changing
business benefits it brings to them. Studies show that mobile applications not only play a huge influencing
role in creating positive brand image outside the organization but also boosts worker productivity within
the enterprise, thus decreasing asset failures, reducing operational costs and improving real-time decision
making to help organizations improve their processes and potential. Research also shows that by adopting
retail mobility solutions, business can get a major lift in their various activities and make it more effective,
culminating to significant financial benefits. A CISCO IBSG survey in 2011 shows that mobility adoption
could bring as high as 10% boost to net margins for retailers.
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 6

7. Typical Retailer with $20B of Revenue per Year
Mobile Marketing Shopper Mobile Mobile Store
($M/Percentage Increased) Services Payments Operations
2% lift 1% lift 1% 0.5% 1%
reduction lift reduction
$20M
$20M $3M $661M
Net Margin
Value
}
$6M $6M Value Value
$6M
Value Value $61M 10%
$600M Value
Current Mobile Mobile Increase Labour Cost Mutichannel Labour Cost Current
Margin Advertising Couponing Basket Size Reduction Extended Reduction Margin
Range +
Potential
Upside
Source : Cisco IBSG,2011
Challenges & Advantages
Concerns Mobility Advantages
• Shrinking profit margins • Low TCO and High ROI
• High operation costs • Alternate Channel of Sales
• Multiple points of sale • Superior consumer shopping experience
• Market saturation • Direct access to customer
• Rising consumer expectations and • Enhanced brand value
diminishing customer loyalty • Better customer engagement via loyalty
• Enhance visibility of products programs, targeted advertising
• Reach to customers • Analytics to understand consumer
behavior
• Boost emloyee productivity
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 7

8. While there are many exciting reasons for retailers to adopt mobility, the path however is not so smooth.
There are several critical challenges facing the retailers as they move on to leverage mobility in their
business. Device diversity- with the availability of varied devices- and platform fragmentation- with multiple
mobile platforms- brings up the challenge to look for solutions that can fit all. Internet connectivity and
bandwidth concern can be a huge block in reaching to a vast audience in certain geographic markets.
Privacy of customer is also a growing concern that has to be adequately addressed. It is also important for
retailers to keep an eye on the reliability and scalability of their mobile infrastructure as the usage grows
(in peak shopping seasons and times). And, above all, there is a huge challenge in rising and meeting up-
to the consumer demands and making shopping via mobile a hassle-free and engaging activity.
“I would use the mobile internet on my cell/mobile phone to purchase products....”
If my mobile phone number would be kept
private 45%
If mobile payment services were more
44%
secure
If sites on the mobile internet had all of the
same content,features and functionality as 36%
on the standard website
If the mobile internet was faster 35%
If sites on the mobile internet looked more
like they do the computer 33%
If my phone had a larger screen 32%
Base: 4,306 US online consumers with mobile phones
Source : North American Technographics Retail Online Survey, Q1 2011(US)
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 8

9. Looking Ahead…
The future for retail mobility looks very exciting. As mobile devices evolve further, new technologies
emerge and adoption grows and a lot of such innovation in the ways mobile technology will be leveraged
in the retail businesses will be seen. Already there are talks of virtual shopping malls owned and managed
by multiple retailers. Other key innovations that are most talked about and are gaining traction in recent
times are the Near Field Communications (NFC) and Augmented Reality (AR).
Near Field Communications
NFC will allow shoppers to simply wave their phone to a tagged item in a store shelf, and get all the
information about the product like prices, reviews, availability and even download discount coupons. NFC
will also allow them to make payments via their mobile and also redeem reward cards.
Looks for product info, size and
NFC enabled Smartphone location.Brings out a map to locate
Stores.
User sees nice product in magazine.
Places phone on the image.
Logs onto the store
and reserves product.
PRADAA
Hello Rachelle,
User swipes phone while entering the store.
Your new Stilletoes
Retailer knows the customer is in store. are ready to be tried
on.
400 Loyalty Points
D
PAI
User Recieves a personalized message.
Earns loyalty points and shares the
product images on social media.
User swithches to phone to pay.
Recieves reciept on phone.
Info Source : Big Mouth Media
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 9

10. Augmented Reality
AR is another technology, in use in its introductory phase, which when further evolved will change the
shopping experience. AR will enable consumers get live view of a particular product, say how a particular
garment will look on them or how painting a particular color will affect the ambience. In the days ahead,
as retail mobility matures, there will be countless possibilities for its use.
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 10

11. Our Recommendations…
• Embrace mobility. Retail mobility is the future. And offers tremendous value to both, retailers and
shoppers.
• Engage with your customers. Mobility brings tremendous opportunities to engage and be
responsive to consumer needs.
• Focus on consumer experience. Create a smooth, user-friendly and enjoyable mobile shopping
environment. Allow consumers to interact with your brands using techniques like Gamification
etc.
• Pick the right platform. Diversity in screen sizes, functionalities and operating system necessitates
businesses to adopt a multi-platform approach.
• Keep an eye on analytics. Monitor consumer behaviour. Customer intelligence will be the guide
for future.
• Lay down the groundwork. Emerging technologies like Augmented Reality, NFC, RFID etc.,
promises more opportunities. Be ready to seize them.
Final Thoughts
Retailers have to explore and adopt solutions that can help them reach their target audience, inform and
influence their buying-decision process. Shoppers, on the other hand, would want the retailers to provide
them with tools and solutions that play a role in their shopping decisions. Retail mobility solutions have
emerged as an effective answer to myriad challenges facing retailers and will empower them to respond
swiftly to the changing market dynamics and consumer lifestyle. However, right solutions beget expected
results when employed at the right time.. The time is ripe to go mobile. A revisit to the recent history
exemplifies how early movers in e-commerce benefitted while laggards were found catching-up. A new
model of retailing is emerging. It’s time to embrace it with full hands!
Retail Mobility- Welcome the consumer on mobile / 11

12. About [x]cube LABS
[x]cube LABS is one of the leading mobile app
development and consulting firm, headquartered
in Dallas, U.S and with offices in New York and Reach [x]cube LABS
Hyderabad, India. With expertise across all the connect@xcubeLABS.com
major mobile platforms, [x]cube has delivered
over 500 apps till date and has an enviable client
list comprising of some of the biggest brands like
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GE, Intel, Texas Instruments, Hasbro, Mattel and
24 Hour Fitness. [x]cube’s understanding of the
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mobile space and technology, complimented by
its rich experience across all the major industry
verticals and the capability to deliver end-to-
end solutions, make [x]cube the perfect mobile
consultant of choice.
To integrate your enterprise people, processes and products with customized, avant-garde mobility
solutions or to explore mobility opportunities in your enterprise with our experts, please feel free to
contact us at connect@xcubeLABS.com.
We encourage you to continue exploring our website ( www.xcubeLABS.com ) to find out more about
our services.
[x]cube is the premier mobile solution partner for companies and individuals creating the next generation of digital applications.
[x]cube develops custom solutions for the iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows Mobile platforms.
[x]cube is a division of PurpleTalk, Inc.
www.xcubeLABS.com | 1-800-805-5783 | connect@xcubeLABS.com