In the US, two out of every five online purchases are made on a mobile end device, and this trend is growing (source: Statista). Even though Utah’s business scene is thriving, local e-retailers are still lacking behind. And Utah is not the only one – online stores of most US e-commerce providers are not optimally adapted to smartphones or tablets. This comes at a cost.
Shopping is now done everywhere, 24 hours a day. A global shopping center is, as it were, permanently in our pocket or purse, thanks to smartphones and tablets. But accessing a shop on the net is often a source of irritation: interminable page loading, confusing graphics, poor guidance, faulty technology, no customised discounts… Nothing of a satisfactory shopping experience. So it is no surprise if many irritated customers throw in the towel before proceeding to the shopping cart.
How not to put off mobile customers
Google has analysed the consequences of a poor user experience on a smartphone or tablet for the supplier. The results are worrying:
- 79% of Internet users don’t come back,
- 75% doubt the brand’s seriousness,
- 57% don’t recommend it.
What’s more: the conversion rate plummets to 50%. These figures make it all the more surprising that, according to the same analysis, the majority of online stores in the US are not sufficiently mobile-friendly. However, mobile commerce follows its own rules.
Design for mobile commerce
If online retailers want to increase your sales via mobile terminals, they should invest in two things: design and technology.
When it comes to design, users expect simplicity first and foremost. All too often, sites designed for end-user screens are simply reproduced as they are. An attractive product presentation and a streamlined ordering process are not handled in the same way on a 27-inch screen as on a smartphone or tablet. For mobile commerce, you need to clean up the design by removing everything that’s unnecessary. Your navigation should be intuitive, and it should be possible to place an order with just a few clicks. As a general rule, if a potential customer has to create an account via smartphone first, he’s already lost as a buyer.
In the UK they do it better
Let’s take an example to demonstrate an attractive and user-friendly mobile interface – the leading UK digital store not only operates a mobile version of its site but also has a mobile purchasing app and provides e.g. Very voucher code for all the app’s users. Clean, easy, and effective.
Technology for mobile commerce
When it comes to technology, e-retailers need to pay particular attention to loading times. A good mobile site should load in less than three seconds. Each additional second reduces the conversion rate by up to 20%, lowering your sales and profits. Of the hundred most-visited sites in the US, only ten are below this threshold. Over 30% take more than five seconds to load. To remedy this, you can already achieve significant improvements with minimal adaptations. Solution? To use images with a lower resolution, abandon unnecessary animations, prioritise the loading order, etc. An interesting collateral effect of shorter loading times is improved search engine visibility.
“Mobile first” is the most important strategy
To get the most out of your online business, e-retailers can’t just do-it-themselves. Mobile is a sales channel in its own right and needs to be designed as such, which implies a digital business strategy. In view of the fact that today, almost 38% of online purchases and around 59% of all data traffic takes place via smartphone and tablet, we can only say “mobile first”. All the more so since mobile commerce is gaining in importance by the day.
There is still a lot of work to do
Clearly, most e-commerce providers have their work cut out for them. Because even if they have already optimised their site, they can’t stay idle afterwards. Performance needs to be constantly checked and analysed, otherwise it will decline significantly over the months. E-retailers need to systematically measure loading times, abandonment and conversion rates, and customer satisfaction, and take them into account as they continue to optimise. It’s a lot of work… but it’s worth it!