In recent EPiServer research, the department store retailer managed to score 75 percent.

John Lewis, a large British department store, has scored extremely well in the latest EPiServer Mobile Commerce 2014 report, when it comes to the smartphone and tablet based shopping experience.

The company was only just slightly ahead of some of its biggest competition, such as Amazon UK and Argos.

The EPiServer report provided the results of an annual study that took the leading 20 retailers in the United Kingdom into consideration. This report has now reached its third year and has shown that while some retailers are excelling in mobile commerce, others are facing a considerable struggle in providing the type of seamless, friction free m-shopping experience that is now expected by consumers.

Mobile commerce is becoming considerably more sophisticated and is evolving quickly.

The average score that was recorded by the research was 47 percent effectiveness for m-commerce. Comparatively, last year the average score had been 55 percent. This suggests that as the technology and expectations become more complex, retailers are having a hard time being able to keep up.

The study took into account Android and iOS dedicated apps for both smartphones and tablets, as well as mobile sites. It took a number of different factors into consideration, including location based and geolocation tools, multi-channel experiences (such as the “click and collect” option that allows a consumer to make a purchase over a smartphone and then simply pick it up in the store), in addition to direct contact with customer service options, social sharing features, and personalized content.

At the very top of this mobile commerce experience list, was John Lewis, which managed to score 75 percent, just squeaking ahead of its competition. It was granted this score after it had achieved a consistently solid mobile strategy throughout its website, Android and iOS app experiences. The official statement from EPiServer said that “Apps deliver smooth experiences that reflect the main site and John Lewis branding with great user experience features, for example ‘double tap to zoom’ on product images, an in-store crossover feature in the form of a barcode scanner and a location-enabled store finder.”

New report finds iOS mobile devices are just as susceptible to attacks as Android gadgets.

As far as malware is concerned, Apple has done a good job at keeping it out of its App Store and, although it is not as much of a target for malware as is the case for Android devices, according to a report from mobile security management company, Marble Security, when it comes to Android and iOS, one is not more secure than the other.

Both operating systems carry similar risks.

According to the report, “The major security differences between iOS and Android are largely that Android is a much more open operating environment, more easily allowing users to download apps from app stores that have poor or non-existent app analysis and vetting procedures.”

However, Marble Security pointed out through its report that most of the malicious attacks on Android and iOS mobile devices typically come from the same sources. Some of these include SMS, malicious apps, or via Wi-Fi hotspots that have been compromised.

Even though Android apps can be downloaded and installed from more stores aside from Google Play, the mobile security company pointed out that even a device that has not been jailbroken can sneak past Apple’s walls through third party testing applications like TestFlight, for example, which is an app Apple acquired just this year.

Moreover, phishing attacks, particularly those in an enterprise environment where attackers can tap directly into the corporate directory and send emails or text messages to targets, is another chief security problem that is common for both mobile platforms.

The company also noted that iOS mobile devices are susceptible to a threat that can be introduced through management profiles. If the user installs a “hostile configuration profile, then the enterprise is at risk for” phony app installs, APTs, intercepted traffic and sophisticated phishing.

Malware threats may be lower but mobile security risks are still an issue for Apple.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has openly made fun of Google for Android’s vulnerabilities in the past, but clearly iOS is not exactly risk-free. That said, Apple has managed to have an overall better track record with mobile security in terms of malware, due to its tight control over app distribution and, unlike Android, when Apple releases its latest version of its operating system, the vast majority of its users upgrade to the most recent one.