Mobile is huge in retail - but how to adress it? Here are some facts.

The writing is on the wall. In retail, mobile commerce is huge already, and it is growing rapidly. Mobile is a rapidly growing and ever changing landscape and that means that it can sometimes be rather confusing and difficult to decide how to prioritize. The user behavior is also very different depending on your customer base, making the decisions even harder. But there is good news. In the newly published  Q2 State of Mobile Commerce Report released by Criteo there are very interesting facts about mobile browser, in-app and cross-device commerce from 1,4 billion ecommerce transactions made worldwide.

In the U.S. mobile commerce now accounts for over 30% of all e-commerce transactions

Improve your website and make it optimized for mobile and gain 200% increase in conversion

Many, if not almost all retailers have now adapted their websites (i.e.responsive sites) so that they are usable on mobile. That does not however mean that the site is optimized to make the user experience so silky smooth and pleasurable so that it is easy and enjoyable to for users to buy. What Criteos research show us is that there are still substantial gains to be made from improving the UX/UI. On average the improvement in conversion between a non-optimized and a usable on mobile site is 180% (1,8x). But the gains do not stop there - by making an optimized mobile user experience on the web, the improvement in conversion goes up again by 120%. The total gain in conversion from going from a non-optimized site to an optimized site is over 200%. The report also shows the actual conversion percentages as can be seen below.

Mobile apps outperform mobile web apps and win hands down.

Image:Ryan McGuire Stocksnap.io

Not surprisingly, when comparing mobile browser to a mobile app in retail, the conversion rate is three times higher in the mobile app. It is also 1,7 times higher than shopping via desktop. 

User experience, well engineered loyalty and context driven functionality are all ingredients of a successful mobile retail app. 

But don't let that give you tunnel vision, though !

Image:Ryan McGuire Stocksnap.io

Although an app is decidedly better at conversion, it is imperative that you do not get a tunnel vision and only focus on the app. The reason is that as many as 40% of customers are using multiple channels (digital such as desktop, tablet social media as well as physical/offline/store) in their buying process. What this means is that you need to treat customers as individuals, not as devices. This is the meaning of omnichannel perspective. Use the context of the customer and be ready to serve them in an optimal way. Wherever they might be and whenever they have a need.

Users are hopping channels all the time. This might be difficult to manage, but customers just don't care if it is. They just want to be treated like people, not like devices!

Are you pondering the problem of whether to focus on an app or on a responsive web site? Andreas Sj?str?m Global Vice President of Digital at Sogeti has made a video clip about exactly that. 

See Andreas Sj?str?ms video

The future

I am already looking forward to read this article in a year from now when I will probably have a very good laugh at the fact that I was calling 30% of transactions on mobile “huge”, because that number will most likely be much higher then.

How to get started

A successful app, web or e-commerce needs to start with a digital strategy. First, start your digital transformation journey and map the business needs and goals. Then, get the data in order with a master data initiative and next, start designing omnichannel services to support the channels - like apps, web and others. This  ensures that your company will be able to meet the ever changing demand from your customers to interact with you. Today it might be apps and web but very soon it might be anything, like a wearable or a thing.

At Sogeti we are passionate about digital and mobile and provide all services from strategy to deployment.

More reading about the study in the full Criteo report