40 Percent Of CFOs Plan To Increase Mobile Spending In 2014

By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

CFOs aim to improve seamless shopping with increased IT and technology investments

While mobile and online channels are expected to continue driving growth for retailers through 2014, a recent BDO USA survey shows that fewer CFO’s expect their company’s online sales to grow this year. While a majority (64 percent) of CFO’s do expect online sales growth throughout 2014, this percentage is down from last year when 74 percent of CFO’s expected online sales growth. This modest decline by no means suggests that the online channel will cease to be important for consumers and retailers alike. In fact, 34 percent of CFOs predict that their company’s online sales will remain consistent with last year and that e-commerce will remain a lucrative part of business.

For the year, CFOs expect online sales to grow 8.2 percent. To achieve this, retailers will be employing several key strategies to streamline operations and better compete against major players like Amazon. For one, CFOs say they will be focusing on developing their e-commerce and mobile platforms. Improving merchandise assortments (28 percent) and expanding within the U.S. (24 percent) are also an important part of CFO’s strategies in the year ahead.

While BDO USA acknowledges that retailers’ e-commerce and m-commerce hold lots of promise for retailers in the years ahead, there is still a lot of work to be done to ensure future growth. Natalie Kotlyar for BDO USA says, “After a banner year of e-commerce and m-commerce growth in 2013, retailers largely expect these platforms to keep delivering big returns in the year ahead. But safeguarding this future growth requires retailers to invest across channels in order to deliver a safe, seamless and efficient experience for shoppers. All the moving parts, mobile apps, websites, supply chain IT systems, brick-and-mortar, need to be carefully coordinated for companies to hold their own in this fiercely competitive landscape.”

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Indeed, CFOs have pinpointed some of the technology investments that they plan to make in order to keep their companies coordinated and running smoothly. Twenty-seven percent of CFOs say that a majority of capital in 2014 will be spent on IT systems and technology. While maintaining e-commerce channels is important for 18 percent of CFOs, a larger portion have set their sights on mobile initiatives. Indeed, 40 percent of CFOs are planning to increase their investment in mobile, with 12 percent aiming to spend the most on mobile app development.