Mobile shopping is set to be meteoric for 2015. So, what does it mean for customers? 'User experience' is a buzzing phrase around the digital shopping sphere. How can retailers tailor and personalise the customer journey to streamline the purchasing encounter and foster customer retention?
Mobile usage has grown faster in 2014 than any other type of media usage and m-commerce is already in practice, but it's set to spread like wildfire in the New Year, becoming the number one engine of e-commerce. Shopping via mobile phone and tablet is predicted to topple over $30 billion in 2015 and will grow to over $290 billion by 2018, with the lion's share of transactions taking place via tablet.
As in any case of transacting, customers want seamless service and ease of use. Omni-channel optimisation is what will drive the customer experience - ensuring that direct communications are personal and lead to a seamless experience across the website, mobile applications and possibly stores.
As customers spend more and more time on the go, or in front of the TV multi-tasking, they're after quality content with minimal hassle and it's all about making the experience and the interface bespoke to each consumer. That's what consumers demand. They demand their favourite retailers to know what they want and when they want it.
Text alerts and push notifications are going to be extremely important methods of communication in the coming year, especially for 18 - 35 year olds and smooth in-app conversions are going to be a key focus. There is room for improvement as most merchants don't offer a mobile app yet (less than 45% are on iOS, and less than 60% on Android).
Here are five tips to make sure your customer has a seamless mobile shopping experience and returns as a repeat purchaser:
1. Understand deeply the needs of your customers from a mobile perspective
2. Tailor the customer experience around your central brand experience and get rid of anything non-core
3. Allow mobile deep linking to products and key pages
4. Move towards one-click shopping and make everything more visual
5. Personalise all consumer alerts to each individual and measure performance using specific mobile-centric tools
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