Nearly 1 in 5 Top Fashion Brands – Including DKNY, Reebok & Versace – Lack a Mobile-Optimized Site, According to New IAB ...
September 05 2014 - 7:00AM
Business Wire
The North Face, Pink, Tiffany & Co. and
Victoria’s Secret Rank as Mobile Winners within the Apparel &
Accessories Sector
With New York Fashion Week underway, the Interactive Advertising
Bureau (IAB) and its Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence are
unveiling “Fashion on Phones,” an in-depth study that looks at the
mobile readiness of the Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) official list of
“Top 100 Fashion Brands” – revealing that 17 percent are without a
mobile-optimized website. Leading apparel, technology and
high-fashion brands that lack a mobile site include:
•
American Apparel
•
DKNY
•
Seiko
•
Bali
•
Fruit of the Loom
•
Timex
•
Candie's
•
Joe Boxer
•
Vanity Fair
•
Casio
•
Maidenform
•
Versace
•
Cherokee
•
Playtex
•
Danskin
•
Reebok
In addition to auditing each of the labels on the WWD list for
mobile-optimized sites, IAB looked at whether or not they offer key
features mobile consumers are likely to seek:
•
App Cross-Promotion – Less than a quarter
(24%) of brands with apps had an app store link on their mobile
site
•
Link to Desktop Site – More than half
(59%) of brands with mobile-optimized sites feature a direct link
to their desktop site from their mobile web page
•
Optimized Search – More than a third (35%)
of brands do not offer mobile-optimized search results
•
Store Locator – The majority (85%) of
brands included a tool to let consumers easily find a store in
their area
•
Tap-To-Call Phone Numbers – Nearly
two-thirds (64%) of brands offer tappable phone numbers within two
or fewer taps from the homepage
The study’s structure also allowed for the creation of a
“M-score,” an index that grades and ranks the list of top fashion
brands on their overall mobile web presence. As a result, four
labels garnered perfect scores:
•
The North Face
•
Pink
•
Tiffany & Co.
•
Victoria’s Secret
Without either a mobile site or any mobile-friendly features,
three were sent to the bottom of the rankings:
•
Candie’s
• Casio • Joe Boxer
“A strong mobile presence should be the ‘must-have’ item on
every fashion brand’s shopping list this season,” said Anna Bager,
Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Center of Marketing
Excellence, IAB. “Eighty-three percent of WWD’s list of top fashion
brands have mobile-optimized websites – but 100 percent of them
should have one. These brands may be driving the fashion trends of
today, but many are missing a trend that could help them connect
directly to style-loving consumers – mobile.”
Beyond the factors that were included in the “M-score” rankings,
IAB examined the fashion houses on the list against other key
mobile strategies as well:
•
Branded Downloadable Apps – iPhone apps
are most popular among fashion labels (47%), with Android apps at a
close second (43%), trailed by iPad apps at a distant third
(26%)
•
Responsive Design – A fairly small
percentage (37%) ensure a good user experience across digital
screens through responsive web design
“This research shows that a great number of fashion houses
aren’t as mobile-savvy as they need to be in today’s digital
world,” said Joe Laszlo, Senior Director, Mobile Marketing Center
of Excellence, IAB. “Not all of the brands in the study are focused
on e-commerce, but those with a direct retail presence have the
strongest imperative to offer great mobile experiences. Doing
mobile right will help drive sales both on smartphones and in
stores. And, even those without that retail arm can only benefit
from a robust mobile presence in the marketplace.”
To download the IAB “Fashion on Phones” report, please visit
www.iab.net/fashiononphones.
Methodology
IAB started with the Women’s Wear Daily top 100 brands as listed
in their report from December 13, 2012. The WWD 100 is an
authoritative list of the most well-known brands in the fashion
world, based on a survey that WWD commissions. The resulting list
included two ties, so comprised a total of 102 brands. The IAB
excluded brands that had either been discontinued or become
exclusively in-house store brands and lost a separate brand
presence on the web. This reduced the sample by 8, leaving a final
sample of 94. For those remaining brands, IAB examined their mobile
web presence, looking for the presence or absence of several key
features – factoring into the brand’s ultimate “M-score.” Those
scores are a weighted index based on having:
•
A mobile website: 2 points
•
Mobile-optimized search; tap-to-call;
store locator; link to app store; link to desktop site: 1 point
each
In addition, IAB also searched both the Apple App Store and
Google Play, to see whether each brand had branded applications
available for download. Separately, use of responsive design was
investigated as well.
For mobile web, two reviewers examined each brand. Where both
reviewers found the same result, it was accepted. Where the two
reviewers disagreed, a third person conducted a “tiebreaking”
review. IAB reviewers used Android and iOS smartphones, and
conducted their survey from July 14-31, 2014, with an additional
review of mobile-optimized sites – the most important
mobile-friendly criteria - conducted on September 4, 2014.
About the IAB
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more
than 600 leading media and technology companies that are
responsible for selling 86 percent of online advertising in the
United States. The IAB empowers the media and marketing industries
to thrive in the digital economy. The organization educates
marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business
community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with
its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards
and practices and fields critical research on interactive
advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York
City.
IAB MediaLaura Goldberg,
347-683-1859laura.goldberg@iab.net