Tag: retail mobile commerce

Retailers could be missing out on a major mobile commerce opportunity

| September 25, 2014

Retailers may not be prepared for the mobile shopping holidays

The holidays are coming and retailers may be unprepared for the proverbial onslaught they will receive from mobile consumers. UniteU, a mobile commerce integrator, has released a new report concerning this problem, suggesting that retailers could face serious challenges when it comes to serving mobile consumers through their websites. The report measures site speeds and their capability to support mobile shopping. UniteU has found that many retailers, including multi-billion-dollar organizations, could fall short of satisfying mobile shoppers during the 2014 holiday season.

Mobile commerce has been performing well during the holiday season

The holidays are an important time for the retail industry. Black Friday is the most active shopping day of the year and serves as an opportunity for retailers to recover from losses they saw earlier in the year. Over the past few years, retailers have been putting a greater focus on mobile commerce, taking note of the growing prominence of mobile shoppers and how much these consumers are spending on products. Several retailers have created mobile websites to accommodate these consumers, but few of these sites are able to serve consumers like they should.

Retailers lack the mobile websites needed to engage consumers effectively

Retail Mobile CommerceThe report shows that many of the retail sites available to consumers are not optimized for mobile devices. This can provide a poor shopping experience for mobile consumers. The majority of mobile payments currently comes from smartphones, which do not use traditional web browsers. Mobile web browsers have trouble deciphering the coding used to make retail websites, so if these sites are not optimized for mobile devices, mobile consumers have trouble using them.

Without optimized mobile websites, retailers could miss out on a significant opportunity

A recent report from Forrester Research suggests that some $26 billion in mobile payments will be processed by the end of this year. The majority of this money is likely to be processed during the holiday season. If retailers cannot optimize their mobile websites by then, they could be missing out on a major opportunity.

Mobile commerce is changing consumer behavior

| September 17, 2014

New report from comScore highlights a shift in consumer behavior, linked to mobile shopping

People are beginning to change their shopping habits due to new mobile services that are becoming available to them. A new report has been released by comScore that highlights this shift in consumer behavior. Traditionally, desktop and laptop computers have dominated the e-commerce space. This has begun to change as mobile technology begins to play a more important role in society. Consumers are becoming more mobile-centric and they are beginning to demand services that cater to their interests.

Mobile searchers are more likely to lead to actual purchases

The report shows that approximately 61% of searches on laptop and desktop computers resulted in a local purchase, while 78% of searchers on smartphones resulted in such purchases. Consumers appear to be more active in searching for products on mobile devices than on stationary computers. Mobile searchers are more likely to power sales, which is why more businesses are beginning to take steps to engage mobile consumers more aggressively.

Consumers are more likely to use mobile websites than applications when shopping online

mobile commerce - consumer evolutionThe report shows that approximately 7 in 10 consumers prefer mobile websites over applications when they are shopping online from their smartphones or tablets. Notably, mobile websites are more favorable among tablet users. This has to do with a tablet’s larger screen, which makes navigating a mobile website easier and more enjoyable for a consumer.

Electronic coupons are successful in promoting mobile commerce among consumers

The report also notes that 75% of mobile consumers make use of electronic coupons when t hey are shopping online. These coupons are issued by retailers as an incentive for mobile shopping. Sometimes, these coupons are part of loyalty programs that are specifically designed with mobile commerce in mind. Electronic coupons have proven that they are quite effective at encouraging mobile shopping, helping retailers find more success in the mobile commerce field. Notably, the majority of mobile transactions are made during the holiday season, where consumers use their smartphones and tablets to avoid long lines at retail stores.