Social Garden Launches Mobile Division

Social Garden, a high growth customer acquisition firm, today announced that it will establish a Mobile Division specifically to help national retailers compete with the global m-commerce (mobile e-commerce) giant in key digital battlegrounds.

It’s well known that Amazon has the capability to enter new markets at unprecedented speeds, severely disrupting existing operators. What’s not well known is exactly how they do this.

“Apps and mobile,” CEO of Social Garden, Michael Bird explains, “are Amazon’s stealth strategy to infiltrate our lives through our smartphones.”

“While many Australian businesses have been focused on driving app installs through traditional channels, much of the battle will take place within the app stores and inside social media, this mistake could prove costly”

The numbers are astounding, and have largely been overlooked by most commentators. In 2016, roughly 60% of Amazon’s $136 billion in ecommerce sales came from mobile or tablet devices.

“Mobile solves many of the problems faced by retailers. Acquiring customers is cheaper, retaining them is easier and monitoring the customer journey and loyalty over time is far simpler.”

Bird stated that “although many major retailers are well aware of the impact Amazon is likely to have, what they aren’t clear on is how much of this battle will take place on the phone, not just the web.”

This trend is not new. Uber is just one recent example of a roll out strategy focused on mobile.

Amazon will also benefit from a new advertising option available in the Australian and New Zealand Apple app stores. Based on the current lack of competition, Amazon could bid to have their app display ahead of companies like ‘Myer’ or ‘Woolworths’ for as low as 5 cents per click.

There are calls for national retailers to accelerate their digital innovation in order to remain competitive, and prepare for the impending roll out of Amazon’s launch strategy.

“This is why we’ve launched our ‘Amazon Defence’ division,” said Bird “firstly, to help Aussie business get their new digital storefront on the new digital high-street, but secondly to create a specialist SWAT team that can help our clients scale their mobile app installs quickly. Time is of the essence here.”

Bird pointed to Big W as a great example of one Australian retailer at risk. According to Google Play, the Big W app only has 10K-50K downloads to date.

Mr. Bird predicts that mobile app install acquisition will be a critical component of any strategy looking to defend against Amazon’s entry.