With customers ranging from ASOS to Tesco, this fi rm has a fair claim to being the world’s biggest mobile platform provider. Karen Moss speaks to Jason Taylor, vice president at Usablenet, the company that does exactly what it says on the tin

1. RS profile Usablenet
What’s in a name?
With customers ranging from ASOS
to Tesco, this firm has a fair claim to
being the world’s biggest mobile
platform provider. Karen Moss speaks
to Jason Taylor, vice president at
Usablenet, the company that does
escatly what it says on the tin
U
sablenet’s vice president of platform, Jason Taylor, says
the company’s aims and ethos can be summed up in
their name. “It’s usable and net,” he says. “That’s what we
promise and that’s what we deliver, highly usable websites that
are functional on all mobile devices, apps and kiosks.”
In fact, when it comes to m-commerce, there’s nobody quite
like Usablenet. They are the largest mobile platform company in
the world and service 20 per cent of Fortune 1,000 companies,
including seven of the top 10 retailers in the UK. Their customers per cent of adults and 47 per cent of teenagers in the UK
include; Fairmont Hotels, Amtrak, Dell, JC Penney, Walgreens, have a smartphone.)
Tesco, Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser, Boots, B&Q, Mothercare, “The iPhone really changed the perception of what people
JD Sports, Arcadia, Expedia, ASOS and Sunglass Hut. wanted to do on their phones,” he says. “Consumers began to
Based in New York, Italy, and the UK, Usablenet is a global expect to have a successful experience when they went online
leader in extending companies’ online brands to their customers, with their phone and that has driven the growth of mobile com-
wherever they are: on mobile, on Facebook, at an in-store kiosk merce. At Usablenet we have one platform that allows us to de-
or via tablet computer. After 11 years, the firm now has more liver the mobile platform experience to retailers with client the
than 300 clients worldwide, including 218 mobile clients, and is choosing level of IT, from no IT to full developer access to the
currently opening offices in Asia and Brazil. same platform. We can have sites up and running within eight to
Taylor says: “Our first mobile client was Amtrak, and a lot has ten weeks. We can have it up and running within eight weeks, it
changed since then in basic customer expectation. The average is this agility when it comes to IT solutions that we bring to our
consumer expects that a website works on any device they clients to help them go multi-channel. If they want tablet solu-
might want to use and they want an optimised experience. They tion or an in-store kiosk, we can do it without IT being involved.”
want mobile sites and mobile apps, but they also now want sites Usablenet offers the leading technological platform for
optimised for tablet computers. Then you have in-store kiosks, transforming and optimising web content. With usability as the
that Usablenet has delivered for Tesco and M&S, which needs to starting point, they have developed a uniquely powerful and
be different than a Facebook store. We helped deliver an opti- flexible platform that optimises content for the constrained
mised f-commerce store for ASOS. In a multi-channel world you environments found in the mobile world and the growing
have to accommodate your customer, making sure everyone can number of outputs used by consumers.
access all your different channels.” Taylor says: “Customers don’t want to be told that they can’t
Many retailers see the advent of the smartphone as a real have it their way. They want to dictate to retailers how they
game-changer, and the software as a service (SaaS) companies want to shop. Maybe they want to buy product and pay online
who provide their mobile platforms are no different. Initially it via computer, but then pick up the item in-store. They expect
was just business people who carried smartphones and used the retailer to provide that service.”
them to access websites for work, but the average consumer One of the world’s fastest growing and most successful
has now caught up to them and, Taylor says, this is reflected online pureplayers, ASOS, turned to Usablenet when they
in smartphone use. (A recent Ofcom survey revealed that 27 decided to launch a mobile site, then again when they opened
46 RS October - November 2011

2. Usablenet profile RS
their Facebook site and when they launched their iPhone and “Retailers need to create inside Facebook a shareable social
iPad apps. And multi-channel giant, Tesco, called on Usablenet’s experience, if you just put up a promotion, that’s not what
expertise when designing their eight mobile sites and integrat- Facebook is about, it has to be shareable content. Step one is
ing them with apps at in-store kiosks. bringing content and then there’s the convenience of purchase
“There are so many different channels these days,” says within Facebook. But it is not anything like mobile commerce,
Taylor. “It’s about how you integrate them that makes a retailer social media users are in consideration mode and knowledge
truly multi-channel. So how do you take Tesco Direct into a mode, not purchase mode.
store or Mothercare online into a store? In the UK 27 per cent “Retailers need to decide how these channels fit into purchase
of adults own a smartphone, so they are now looking up pricing decisions. I believe social media is limited in retail revenue, but big
and reviews on their phone as part of their in-store purchasing in content sharing. All these things like apps, websites, Facebook
experience. It’s about how you scale these channels; it might be – it’s about furthering the brand loyalty. Anyone who is an ASOS
a consumer facing application on in-store facing application. It fan on Facebook is committed in some way to the ASOS brand.
could be a sales assistant in-store with their iPad to help up-sell. Another customer of ours, JC Penny, does well on social media
Once a customer is in-store, you have to think about how their because stay at home mums and working mums are a powerful
interaction there affects their overall experience. The consumer and very social group on Facebook. Retailers need to know their
journey can start on any channel.” target audience.”
Right now the average retailer is reporting that three-five
f-commerce per cent of their online revenue comes from mobile commerce.
For Usablenet’s Taylor, the power of social commerce is all in But it is difficult to tell if these sales are incremental or an
the retailers’ content. He believes that consumers are no in expansion of their online base. Certain companies, especially
what he calls ‘purchase mode’ when they are logged onto fashion retailers like Net-a-Porter and ASOS that appeal to
Facebook or Twitter, instead they are looking for knowledge younger generations, do better at m-commerce.
through consumer reviews and considering the possibility of Taylors adds: “Shop NBC is one of the most visited sites in
making a purchase. America because people are watching TV and surfing the web on
“Facebook is not a store,” he says. “It’s a social sharing site. We their tablet or smartphone at the same time. Then when they
find things that we like, want to comment on and want to share. see something, like a DVD box set that they want to order, it’s
If you take ASOS as an example; all of their products are avail- only a few taps away. The point is that consumers want every-
able inside Facebook for you to find, share and review. Then you thing to be highly accessible. They want to build their wish list
can allow your friends and family see your review – that’s social in-store and then be able to access it from home or vice versa.”
currency. That’s the stuff that generates interest. However, there are subtle differences between smartphone
and tablet shoppers that Taylor says retailers need to be aware
of. Even where and when they will shop is different. Most of us
would never dream of leaving home without our mobile phone,
but you will go out to work, or a restaurant without your tablet
device. At the moment five per cent of retailers’ online revenue
comes from consumers purchasing on tablet devices.
“It’s more of a replacement of the computer, it’s not a mobile
phone,” says Taylor “The consumers who have tablets are af-
fluent and tech savvy. From an interface perspective the way
we use a tablet is totally different to the way we use a website.
It’s a tactile dashboard approach, we want to see everything
right there in front of us. This person could be mobile, so the
retailer could change homepage to say where the nearest store
is to them. But they could also be accessing your site from the
comfort of their home.”
Yet, Jason says it doesn’t matter how complex your website
is, or how many different devices are in use in the world today.
It doesn’t even matter how many different devices will be in use
in the world next year. Usablenet’s platform is designed to scale
in every direction, from their own infrastructure capacity to the
support for the full range of functionality on your website, to
support for any and every device your customers may be using.
October - November 2011 RS 47