It is no secret that shopping is moving more and more away from computer to mobile. Mobile shoppers expect immediate service wherever they go and the possibility to browse and buy quickly at any time they want. If they can not find immediately what they are searching for, 61% of them will leave and go to another site.
A non-mobile-friendly website evokes the impression that the company does not care about their business. We are sure that you do; hence we will prove to you in this article that optimization for M-Commerce is crucial for your business.
Let’s start with having a quick look at struggles a user might encounter when trying to order an article on a smartphone.
Bad user experience prevents a prospect from buying
There is always the possibility that a prospect – let’s call him Tom – saw your product already home on the desktop and decides the next day to buy it. He is sitting in the metro on the way to work and thinks it is a good moment to order since he does not have anything better to do.
The first obstacle Tom might face is a non-mobile-friendly website in which he tries to zoom in and out and swipe to see the content correctly. After he managed to navigate to the catalog, he gets frustrated by long loading times and wrong visualizations of product pictures. When he finally finds the product, he has to create a user account and to fill out lengthy forms on his tiny screen. Ready to enter his MasterCard credit card number he finds out that only Visa is accepted. Upset he will leave your page and let’s an abandoned shopping cart behind.
What is more, an unsatisfying mobile shopping experience increases the probability that you lost Tom forever. The chances that this he comes back to buy from your brand has a chance of only 40%.
Above all, you can not provide a bad user experience, as it harms your reputation significantly. Bad experiences are shared way more often than good ones.
That was now an exaggerated version; however, as an agency, we saw already – not always altogether – many of these issues.
48% of mobile shopper think a company is not caring enough for their business when the mobile experience is poor.
High numbers for shopping cart abandonment on mobile
Mobile has the highest cart abandonment rate. It accounts for almost 86%. You might think now that people just changed their mind. Deeper diving into shopper’s motives which led to an unfinished purchase will prove you wrong. We will tell you why!
At this point the question arises, why so? Poor mobile user experience!
Three of the most common reasons for leaving without completing the purchase are
- troubles with entering personal data,
- loss of internet connection and
- a poor visual presentation on small screens.
With this knowledge, you have already a first clue where to start with the eCommerce optimization for mobile.
The mobile cart abandonment rate is at 86%.
Omni-channel approach – The company as a whole
When your mobile site takes only one second more to load than the one of your competitors, it has a likely adverse effect on your conversions of 20%.
During a customer journey, a person comes in contact with you in different touchpoints. Your business is one whole picture. Shoppers neither make a difference between desktop, mobile site or App, nor about online and offline.
An interesting insight revealed a survey from Retail Dive. Results showed that 60% of shoppers look up product details, coupons, price among other things on their phone while being in a local store. Even if the purchase was not made in the M-Commerce store, prospects come to visit the website or app. That again shows that online and offline work closely together.
Convert indecisive searchers into buying customers
Shopping is not always the result of a rational – and sometimes long – decision process, in many cases it is on impulse. Sometimes the prospect has already a clear idea of which brand to choose, other times the decision process starts from zero. Either way, your website needs to be mobile friendly and pave the way for possible purchases.
A survey of Google suggests that 90% percent of smartphone users are not sure which brand to choose when starting the shopping process. They scour the internet in hope to find firstly inspiration and secondly smooth working mobile websites which enables a great M-Commerce shopping experience.
What does that mean concretely for your business? The sky’s the limit! That is every retailer’s chance to convert a lost and indecisive searcher into a buying customer.
How to do that?
Yes, as you may know already from the headline, through getting your M-Commerce ready for mobile shoppers. It is well-known that Google favors mobile-optimized websites. Indeed Google says that it is nowadays crucial for your online presence.
90% percent of smartphone users have no specific brand in mind when starting the shopping
Responsive Design – A good start
When talking about mobile websites, first associations are made with responsive web design. It helps among other things with search engine ranking. Nevertheless, it is only a first step for e-marketers towards making the business mobile-friendly.
Ethan Marcotte said it quite straightforward:
“Most importantly, responsive web design isn’t intended to serve as a replacement for mobile websites.”
Even though content can be viewed in a suitable format, the loading performance is often rather weak than rapid. Not always is responsive design the solution for mobile. Your mobile approach has to meet the requirements of your business and target group.
Where websites without the intent to sell can often stop with a simple website conversion to responsive, a complicated process for online retailers starts.
Since the average citizen is having a 24/7 relationship with his smartphone, e-marketers have to expect greater adjustments to stay competitive. M-Commerce should not be underestimated.
Responsive web design does not replace mobile websites
M-Commerce – Create a pocket-made shopping experience
When we speak about eCommerce on smartphones and tablets, we should use the word Mobile Commerce.
So let’s talk about M-Commerce which stands for a pocket-made shopping experience on portable devices like Smartphone or Tablet. More specifically, it combines Mobile Banking, Mobile Shopping, and Mobile Payments. In this article, we are having a look at the shopping part.
M-Commerce, it is not just about seeing the website content in a mobile-friendly way, but also to buy articles with ease. With a quick transformation of your desktop content into a mobile version, the job is not done.
You have to do more than that in order to understand and review the whole customer journey from entering your website until the checkout and even further. Optimized navigation or an seamless checkout process with the integration of different payment methods or mobile wallets are only two examples to name.
Besides, you could take into consideration that an app can enhance the user experience even higher and thus boost sales.
Does my eCommerce need a mobile app?
If you want to run a successful M-Commerce, an app can be a good investment. In another article, we already discussed the advantages and opportunities that can open up from launching a Business App.
Whether an app is a right choice for your business depends on your strategy on the kind of business you have. As Criteo found out in 2017, mobile apps account for about 54% of mobile sales in Europe.
With an app, you are able to offer special features like offline content and easily shareable products via WhatsApp, Facebook, and Co or Push Notifications.
Push Notifications are not only an excellent way to keep the prospect engaged but also to remind him regularly of your existence. It is a great way to send less or even non-intrusive notifications within the app or “outside”. Furthermore, you can integrate loyalty programs and create easy access.
In Europe, mobile apps account for 54% of mobile sales.
Reasons why you should optimize your business for M-Commerce
- Google strongly recommends it and rewards your effort with a better ranking
- Customer perceives you as relevant and modern
- Providing great omnichannel user experience
- Getting ahead of your competitor
- It enhances your reputation
- Sell to mobile shoppers in any place at any time
- Steady growth in mobile sales around the world
- Lowers your rate of shopping cart abandonment
- Chances are high the customer comes back
- One shot to convert a shopper into a buyer
Jump on the Mobile Commerce wave now!
Shaping a great mobile experience whether through an optimized mobile site or a freshly developed mobile app is critical for your eCommerce business. M-Commerce will grow over the years and open up many new opportunities for your business. Don’t miss out on making your company ready for that.