There is a lot of hype around mobile. There is good reason for a lot of this hype: Mobile Internet usage is increasing. At year-end 2007, only 11% of US adult cell phone owners accessed the mobile Web monthly or more. By mid-2009, adoption had risen to 17%. Daily use of the mobile Internet has also been increasing, and by mid-year 2009, daily use of the mobile Web was 10% of adults with mobile phones. For more details, see the July 29, 2010, “Making the Case for the Mobile Internet” Forrester report.

But in all of the conversations about if and when to develop m-commerce and mobile apps, it’s important that another conversation also occurs: What happens when users need customer service from within a mobile Web site or app?

Here are some key questions:

  • Is it easy for a consumer to find “Contact Us” information on your mobile Web site? It is an ongoing pet peeve of mine that it is typically easier to use mobile Google — showing consumers all of your competitors' contact information as well.
  • Is your help content optimized for mobile Internet and app users?
  • Can you extend your existing online customer service channels to the mobile Internet? Don’t just think email. Think virtual agent, chat, click to call . . .

I’ve recently published a report called “Extending Online Customer Service To The Mobile Channel.” I hope this will provide some useful ideas for your company.