Survey: The B2B sectors that are quickly adopting mobile
1. Retail: 67 percent were using mobile to enable consumers to buy products; 50 percent used it to help consumers access information about products. There’s room for opportunity, with just 16 percent having a mobile app.
2. Professional services: The top uses for mobile devices and apps were enabling communication with customers, accessing information about the company, allowing customers to execute a service. There’s room for growth: Just 29 percent used mobile apps to automate processes.
3. Construction: These companies primarily use mobile to help consumers access information about their companies, and to improve communication between the main office and employees in the field. Room for growth: About one-fourth used mobile to help customers execute a service that used to be more complex.
4. Foodservice: Half of these companies reported some employees had already replaced computers with mobile devices, and an additional one-fourth expected this to happen in the next two years. Room for growth: With this the single industry most rapidly adopting mobile, there are still many ways mobile can improve the customer experience.
5. Manufacturing: These companies primarily use mobile to improve communication with customers and among employees. Mobile enables them to be more responsive, providing quotes quickly and collaborating with team members.
SUMMARY: Mobility is increasingly important to business-to-business sales as the laptop and desktop fade, Rieva Lesonsky writes. More than 1 in 3 ITs say mobile has replaced those other computers entirely for some employees, according to a CDW Small Business Mobility report. The construction, food service, manufacturing, professional services and retail sectors are using mobile most, according to the survey.