The use of mobile devices took off like a rocket with the release of the first iPhone and consumers have not looked back. Likewise, customers have embraced mobile apps and mobile app development companies have enjoyed tremendous growth over the same time frame.
While mobile commerce has shown tremendous growth it has lagged behind consumer’s general mobile use | Photo: Jason Howie (Flikr)
However, following somewhat behind the use of mobile devices and mobile apps is mobile commerce. While mobile commerce has shown tremendous growth it has lagged behind consumer’s general mobile use. Consumers often use mobile devices to shop and do research on products, but they regularly make the actual purchases offline or via their desktop or laptop computer.
Accessing the internet via mobile passed access via desktop in 2014, but mobile commerce is still lagging behind as consumers are making more purchases and spending more money via their desktop computers.
Because of this, there is a tremendous opportunity to increase sales if you can convert shoppers doing research on their mobile device into sales right then and there. If you can, you will help reduce the number of people performing research that are not being converted into customers or customers who end up making purchases from one of your competitors.
Prioritize mobile
To capitalize on this opportunity, you first and foremost must not treat mobile as a secondary channel. You need to prioritize mobile commerce and mobile user experiences. Additionally your business needs to create a mobile transactional app.
Users spend the bulk of their mobile time using apps and if your business does not have one you are missing the boat. In addition to differences in usage time, mobile apps have higher conversion rates than mobile web sites which also make them essential.
Optimize mobile experiences
To maximize your return on mobile efforts, your business needs to make sure that they have user-friendly, optimized mobile experiences across all mobile content. This includes not only mobile apps but mobile friendly web sites as well.
Many businesses have tried to shoe-horn their web site deigned for desktop viewing into a mobile web site and mobile app and this will not bring the sales they were hoping for. Design specifically for mobile with a laser like focus on user experience.
Omni-channel strategy
A cross-device strategy is essential these days. Your business needs to understand the relationship between how your customers use the various channels and have a plan for how to engage them as they move between them.
You may find that many of the purchases on the desktop version of your web site are being inspired by mobile ads. You will have an easier time driving results if you understand the big picture of the customer journey. If your mobile ads are driving desktop sales find out why. Find out why users are not buying off your mobile offerings and improve them to close the gap and increase sales.
Consider the following 3 aspects of the mobile process:
Customer acquisition
Right now consumers are willing to download and engage with retailers via apps, however many retailers are still lagging behind when it comes to developing apps utilizing best practices. The user experience of many apps has lagged behind what consumers are expecting.
When it comes to mobile apps a quality user experience is crucial and retailers must devote necessary time and effort to their user interface to improve the likelihood that customers will shop via their mobile app.
Customer engagement
When it comes to mobile, bounce rates are higher than they are on desktop. Consumers tend to engage differently with mobile than they do on desktop computers and this should be accounted for when developing your application. For instance, customers generally visit far fewer screens in apps.
This has to do with the shorter session times that occur on mobile. On the other hand, users tend to use their mobile devices with much greater frequency. If your business accounts for the way customers use their devices and develop an app that falls in line with their needs and usage patterns, it will help drive sales.
Customer retention
It can be difficult to re-engage a user once they have abandoned your application. Consumers are much less likely to return to an app after abandoning it than they are returning to a web site on a desktop computer. Because of this it is essential that you place a high priority on engaging customers who have downloaded your app right off the bat.
Final thoughts
Since we are living in a time when consumers constantly use their mobile devices to communicate, be entertained, work, and look for information. it makes sense that businesses would cater to customers being able to shop via their mobile device.
To take advantage of mobile commerce’s potential, you want to make sure you understand and accommodate your customers’ preferences, behaviors, needs and limitations. Focus on creating mobile experiences that make shopping simple. Investments in UX Design can pay off high dividend as they will help you improve user experiences and help create mobile sales.