Despite drastic rises in mobile adoption, 44% of top international retailers still do not offer an iPhone application.

The research from Episerver, which benchmarked 100 leading retailers in 11 countires, also found that 46% do not provide an iPad-compatible app.

Support for Android tablets is even less common, with 62% of retailers relying purely on mobile-compatible websites rather than Android-specific tablet apps.

“It’s surprising to see just how many of the world’s top retailers are failing to make the jump to a mobile-first approach,” said David Bowen, director of product management at Episerver. “While mobile and responsive web design should be a retailer’s first priority given that web is more often a consumer’s first port of call, mobile apps are playing an increasingly dominant role in the customer journey.

“Mobile apps must factor in any online retailer’s strategy, enabling them to keep their business at the forefront of the customer’s mind and ensure products are never more than a click, tap or swipe away.”

>See also: Retailers are missing out on £6.6 billion a year by not being 'mobile first'

Other findings from the study show that, across the 11 countries, UK retailers offer the best mobile shopping experiences, with John Lewis topping the list of 100 retailers.

The US’s Home Depot and Swedish-owned IKEA follow, while Finnish retailers are the least likely to include mobile within their marketing or e-commerce strategies.

Interestingly, despite their significant presence within the mobile and retail markets, both Amazon UK and Amazon US failed to make it into the top five retailers for global mobile strategy.

Top mobile retailers (US/UK/Australia/Nordics/Benelux)