Just yesterday, we were applauding online retailer Wine.com for finally figuring out that having a mobile app is not enough – you still need a mobile website, too. Today, another big name announces the launch of its own HTML5 efforts: GetSatisfaction. The popular customer support company says its new Web app will bring the full functionality of its online community platform to its now 3.1 million users.
At launch, the Web app (currently in beta) supports iPhone users, but support for Android and BlackBerry OS 6+ is on its way soon.
According to GetSatisfaction’s internal metrics, over 25% of the company’s users access its online communities via search engine referrals. Over the past year, the traffic from mobile devices has nearly doubled, up from 8% to 15% of total visits. GetSatisfaction has essentially been squandering that traffic until now by not providing a customized mobile experience for these visitors. (The company offers an independently built iPhone app, but it’s for business use, not for consumers).
The new Web app will provide an immediate advantage to mobile app makers, who can now link to their GetSatisfaction page from within their app in order to provide customer support. Often, app makers simply provide an email address for reporting concerns, provide a basic FAQ within their app, or worse, ignore the need for in-app support altogether. Now, without a lot of additional effort on their part, app makers can funnel users to GetSatisfaction, allowing them to report bugs, suggest ideas, ask questions and interact with the online community.
In total, GetSatisfaction says it has 63,000 communities live on its site, all of which will now be mobile-enabled. That’s up from the 58,000 reported in August, when the company raised its $10 million Series B. GetSatisfaction pages are provided for free, but companies pay a fee to claim and moderate the page, with plans starting at $19.00/month. Today, the company has over 2,500 paying customers, including Proctor and Gamble, Adobe, Spotify, Flipboard and Mint.