Earlier this week, Ulster Bank announced that it launched the first free mobile banking app in Ireland for the iPhone. The bank follows many other European banks that have jumped on the iPhone app bandwagon in the past 18 months.

In a report titled "The State Of Mobile Banking In Europe: 2010" that I published earlier this year, I argued that thanks to its large-screen, touch-screen interface, the app store, and the fact that it mostly comes with fast all-you-can-eat data plans, it opened many people’s eyes for the potential of the mobile channel. In fact, iPhone users are about three times as likely to use mobile banking as other mobile phone users.

Of the 42 largest banks in the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden, as many as 28 now offer iPhone banking apps — a whopping 67%. Although their launch has generated a lot of free PR, these iPhone apps have limited reach today. According to Forrester’s Consumer Technographics data, only about 2% of European mobile phone users have an iPhone and no individual country exceeds 4% adoption.

To reach more customers, many banks are launching apps for other platforms these days. So far, 12 out of the 42 European banks we reviewed offer apps for Android (29%). But only two banks (5%) — Spain’s la Caixa and Germany’s Sparkasse — can be found on RIM’s BlackBerry App World.

Social shopping -- and service -- has become a reality: The percent of US online consumers opting out of social media -- Inactives -- has fallen dramatically, from 52% in 2006 to just 17% in 2009 while all of the categories of social media usage have increased. In response, eBusiness executives are doing the best they can -- as fast as they can -- to experiment with social media and create solid strategies.

The challenge? Most social initiatives originate in interactive marketing departments with marketing goals like awareness and branding, while eBusiness executives must tie their efforts to increased sales and decreased service costs.

Social then tends to raise more questions than it answers: Who owns social? What is the role of eBusiness in setting the social strategy? How do we create a strategy that helps our online sales while coordinating with other departments? Our new report The Building Blocks For Social Success in eBusiness explores how some firms are dipping their toes in the water -- we call them “experimenting” eBusiness groups -- and how others are in the “directing and governing” phases with social -- owning not just the templates and process for social, but the execution as well, for their entire companies.

Where are you on the social spectrum? Does your company host a Facebook fan page? Do you offer customer ratings and reviews? Are your social efforts focused on increasing sales or increasing brand awareness?  Is social integrated into your online sales experiences? I told you social raises more questions than answers! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the role that social can play in driving online sales.

After almost 10 years at Forrester, I'm incredibly lucky to now lead the team dedicated to making eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals successful every day. And, more than ever, senior executives leading eBusiness efforts need help. Ubiquitous connectivity, new devices, and empowered consumers translate into very specific challenges. How do I drive commerce effectively anytime and anywhere my customers demand? How can I ensure a seamless and productive experience regardless of the channel employed? And, how do I align my people, processes, technology, metrics, and culture to support my customers?

If you or someone you know is interested in helping eBusiness & Channel Strategy professionals with these and other challenges, please consider the following open positions for which we are hiring:

• Senior Analyst - Serving eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals with Retail insights (US)
• Senior Analyst - Serving eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals with Retail insights (Amsterdam or London)
• Senior Analyst - Serving eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals with Technology insights (US)
• Research Associate - Serving eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals (US)

Last week, I had the opportunity to participate in a Webinar called “Right Channeling Customer Service: A Practical Guide Webinar” sponsored by ATG and IntelliResponse. The Webinar focused on aligning the right customer with the right channel at the right time.

There were a lot of good questions at the end of the Webinar, and one in particular struck my attention. The question was, “What is the cost per contact for click-to-call compared to a call originated by a customer?”

Ryan Hoppe, director of product marketing at ATG, answered the question. I thought his comments were insightful and wanted to share them.

According to Ryan, click-to-call sessions pass context from the session to the telephone rep. As a result, there is less discovery time required. This can reduce interaction time by about 10%.

 Ryan also advised that contact resolution time isn’t the only key metric. In fact, click-to-call sessions may take a bit longer depending on the nature of the call. He said ATG has a client that found click-to-call transactions were a bit longer, but the client experienced a significant reduction in subsequent calls. This occurred because click-to-call was employed to help customers manage their accounts online. Having a live rep help customers get started meant they didn’t need repeated calls.  Ryan recommended looking at First Contact Resolution (FCR) rates when assessing the value of click-to-call.

Here is a link to the Webinar in case you’d like to listen to the recording or download its slides. I hope you’ll find the content relevant and thought-provoking.