I thought we were passed this. I thought we’d moved on. I’ve definitely moved on….why can’t you?  I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed….sigh….

There have been significant developments over the last year in the way retailers are engaging and implementing mobile services. Some have learnt from their initial adventures in to apps, some less so.

The fast food industry has perhaps seen some of the greatest success with mobile commerce and incorporating mobile services– Domino’s Pizza for example announced in October that it did over £1m in sales in a single day, with 13% of that (£130k) coming through mobile devices – just as a disclaimer, the Domino’s iOS and Android app was developed by Somo, a client of Speed.

There have been other app launches in the market that have been considerably less successful and this post is a tale of two apps launched this month as part of that industry, which I consider to be at two different ends to the spectrum.

Nando’s, one of the nation’s favourite chicken restaurants, first established in the UK in 1992, launched its first iOS and Android app this week. Perhaps a little late to the app game, but understandably it takes time to implement a mobile strategy, which usually means they’ve thought about it long and hard to make sure they get it right. However, it’s a little disappointing to see that despite the leaps and bounds made in mobile and retail, the first iteration of the app seems to be lacking any real strategic thought. Although the app is visually very nice, it lacks functionality. It allows users find their nearest restaurant (as you would expect), check in or ‘Chick-in’ to a restaurant via Facebook Places and share that information, inviting their friends to come join them….but that’s about it. To me, it just doesn’t make any sense as to why Nando’s has released this app right now.

Nando’s has a really strong social following, with around 700k ‘likes’ on Facebook and almost 200k followers on Twitter – there’s no doubt of its popularity. On the website, Nando’s has said that it has chosen to focus on the social aspect in the first version of the app and that it’s already working on the second version of the app which will include a menu as well as other ‘top secret’ features. If that’s the case, then why release this version? It’s waited this long to launch an app, why not wait a little longer to offer something that really blows the consumer away in terms of functionality and experience. It doesn’t benefit the consumer in any real way and it’s unlikely to drive any footfall to restaurants. It seems like it’s making the same mistakes retailers and other companies made back in 2010 in the first generation of apps – creating something that didn’t really drive an end result – something like the Barclaycard Waterslide app. A good app for sure, but it didn’t provide an incentive to sign up for a Barclaycard or drive people to their nearest Barclay’s Bank, so it was difficult to measure its actual effectiveness.

The Nando’s app had so much potential. It wouldn’t have been too farfetched to think that its loyalty scheme could have been included in the app – connecting up a loyalty card with Facebook, hey – even throw in some badges to unlock on Facebook or Foursquare. What about the potential to not only check in to the restaurant, but order through the app – you can already call ahead with your order and pick it up, so why not implement this in to the app. Maybe this is all coming in the second version, but for me, it’s about thinking not only about what customers will want to do, but what will make their visit to Nando’s that much better by using the app. How can you enhance their experience?

Compare this with another app launched in the last couple of weeks in the FMCG market, Starbucks. In London, coffee shops are everywhere. For example on my walk up to Leicester Square from Embankment tube station (0.5 miles) I think I pass three Starbucks, two Prets, a Nero’s, a Costa Coffee, an EAT, Notes Coffee Shop (at the bottom of St Martin’s Lane) and maybe a couple more smaller independent shops. Needless to say, you get a little spoilt for choice for your morning cup o’ Joe. Before two weeks ago it had been about two years since I’d been a regular Starbucks customer, but all that changed after it launched its app.

Aside from telling me where my nearest store is, letting me share my favourite coffee with my friends, the app lets me sign up to a Starbucks account and register a virtual points card, top it up with my preferred debit card and pay for my coffee using a digital barcode on my phone’s screen. It’s this sort of functionality that pushed me over the edge and converted me in to a regular drinker of Starbucks. I know it’s not the best coffee in London, but I’m a sucker for a gimmick and anything that will make my life a smidge easier. I’ll be interested to see how many others have done the same, signed up and use the app regularly to pay. It’s definitely quicker than messing about with a card or cash, but ultimately my visit to Starbucks is the same length of time as before – after all i still need to wait for them to make the coffee. The genius of it all is the fact that when i top up, i’m giving Startbucks £10 or so for nothing up front. It has my money to do what it pleases and i’d be extremely interested as to how this is reflected in its Q1 results.

The strategy for Starbucks is to drive up membership of its loyalty card and track the thirst (sorry) for mobile payments by tracking just how many of their customers are paying for their coffee with their smartphone and how many virtual cards have been registered. From this it’s incredibly easy for Starbucks to track results and analyse whether the app has been a success or not. It’s much more in line with what retailers should have been aiming to achieve with mobile through the latter half of 2011 and going in to 2012.

For Nando’s the success of its app will be a lot harder to track, after all, the number of downloads doesn’t equate to success if no-one’s engaging with the app after downloading it. If it’s not encouraging people to come in to a restaurant or order anything further than they would normally, it would be difficult to deem it a success.

You can make your own mind up about each of the apps by downloading them below:

Starbucks iOS

Starbucks Android

Nando’s iOS

Nando’s Android