Mobile is the connective tissue in the omnichannel body. Flexible and strong, it adapts to its environment and holds the pieces together. It brings sensors, gestures, and other features to the retail experience that are simply not available on desktop. It is changing everything about the industry, and the shocking reality is that we have only just begun to discover its potential.

Many retailers have failed to keep pace with demands of modern shoppers. Even as they begin to incorporate mobile into their strategy, they fumble and follow outdated habits and inaccurate assumptions.

Mistake 1: Not Taking into Account Smartphone Screen Size
People whose online experience started with desktop often see the smartphone as just a smaller, younger sibling. As such, they use desktop screen proportions on the mobile device. This leads to: too much text on a page, and forms that do not function well with users’ fingers and do not submit reliably, graphics and other page items that load slowly.

These inconveniences negatively affect the brand through customer frustration or boredom. Many customers abandon their shopping carts and never return.

Read the full article as published in Chain Store Age.

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Scott Galloway is a Clinical Professor of Marketing.