Opinion: Apple iOS 10 offers retailers a wealth of personalisation

While changes to the mobile operating system have been considered incremental, they offer definite benefits for retailers who are paying attention and take advantage of the changes. And it certainly makes sense to keep a close eye on the iOS changes as adoption happens quickly – more than half of iPhone users updated to iOS 9 within the first month – and iPhone users are high value customers, as 62% of UK m-commerce orders happen over iOS.

iPhone users are high value customers – 62% of UK m-commerce orders happen over iOS

More interactive and customisable notifications will present retailers with opportunities to increase their engagement with customers. New with iOS 10, brands can now fully customise headers, subtitles and copy to ensure their messages grab customers’ attention in this competitive real estate on the phone.

Improved push notifications now offer rich content, so you can add gifs, videos, and images alongside your updated copy to make your messages stand out from the noise.

During the early consideration phases, shoppers can use 3D touch to preview items within the notification, only clicking through to the retailers’ app when they would like more detail (and in that case, arriving directly to the relevant content within the app).

Working in tandem with more compelling notifications, retailers will also benefit from the new ability for customers to make purchases from the lock screen – booking a reservation or purchasing a dress seamlessly – based on previous behaviour.

This functionality is likely to increase the adoption of Apple Pay in the UK, which has struggled a bit since its launch. As businesses follow consumer behaviour patterns, retailers are more likely to embrace and accept Apple Pay once users begin to get accustomed to it, which could happen as Apple makes it easier and easier to use.

Retailers will also benefit from the new ability for customers to make purchases from the lock screen

Though Apple’s net revenue has been down over the last two quarters, gross margin is more or less in the same place. The reasons for this are numerous. Three in particular are: the increase in R&D spend in the last five years, the declining growth of the tablet market and the saturation of the iPhone.

When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs ran the company, its R&D budget was negligible, but now reaches as much as $10bn (£7.5bn). The iPhone has reached its market peak as it is only accessible to those with relatively high disposable income. Coupled with stagnant penetration for the tablet, which is flat in the UK and declining in the rest of Europe, the company has struggled to see growth.

Perhaps the new iOS, iPhones and the Apple Watch Series 2 could help shake things up for the tech giant. Either way, it will behoove retailers to take advantage of the changes to notifications in the latest mobile operating system, to reassess customer behaviours with these new touchpoints and ultimately increase engagement and sales.

• Emma Crowe is chief of client strategy at Somo