How to Get Your Mobile Site Ready for Holiday Shopping
Mobile traffic surpassed desktop in 2015, and now mobile commerce revenue is poised to overtake desktop. The 2017 holiday season could be big for online retailers … if their mobile commerce site is up to scratch. If not, don’t fret — you still have time to adjust.
A recent comScore report found that 65 percent of digital experiences are now on mobile. In the past, mobile users didn’t convert at the same rate as desktop users. Mobile experiences were less than stellar, keeping mobile revenue stagnant even as traffic increased. However, that’s all about to change.
New technology has led to faster, app-like mobile experiences, easing mobile shopping and increasing mobile revenue. Retailers that have embraced this technology are beginning to see higher sales on mobile than desktop, and mobile revenue will overtake desktop on a broad scale this year.
How to Boost Mobile Revenue
Mobile will be at the forefront of the 2017 holiday shopping season. Improving user experiences for mobile shoppers leads to more conversions and could provide for your best season ever. Four main factors increase a customer’s likelihood to purchase via mobile. If you get these right, your mobile revenue will surpass even your best desktop numbers.
1. Streamline navigation. Mobile interactions are often fleeting. People check their phones while they’re in transit or just bored, so easy navigation is vital when each session can get interrupted so quickly.
Tailoring content and offerings by location, events and shopping history will make it easier for customers to find what they're looking for in those mobile moments. In fact, a Google survey found that when mobile sites customize content according to a shopper’s location, 61 percent of smartphone users are more likely to buy.
Research what your market cares most about, then use that data to further streamline navigation and drive conversions. Be sure to follow mobile commerce best practices and A/B test your messaging and promotions.
2. Decrease load times. Since people use their mobile devices in short bursts, speed is essential in driving conversions. Technological advances in speed are game changers in the mobile commerce experience.
Progressive web apps (PWAs), for example, combine an app-like experience with mobile web surfing, and users don’t have to download anything to instantly access your site from their phones. Using PWAs makes page load times two to four times faster. When our company ran A/B tests for our customer PureFormulas, we found out just how much of an impact speed has on revenue: PureFormulas’ PWA site saw 23 percent more revenue because faster pages lead to more sales.
Combining PWAs with accelerated mobile pages (AMPs) creates the ultimate shopping experience. AMPs should be used for popular landing pages because Google can then cache a lightweight version of the first page that loads instantly. The PWA loads in the background to ensure all subsequent page loads are also fast, creating an overall speedy shopping visit.
3. Enable one-click purchases. Mobile checkouts can be tedious, so offering one-click purchasing can be a major revenue booster. In a recent survey, 40 percent of online shoppers said they would be more likely to buy if the checkout process were simplified.
To streamline checkout, implement mobile commerce best practices. Make checkout easier by letting customers skip filling out billing and shipping information each time they make a purchase by using Android Pay, Apple Pay and the payment request API. When shoppers abandon their carts, use web push notifications to remind them to complete their purchases quickly and easily.
4. Enhance security. Security is a major concern for online shoppers, and particularly for mobile shoppers. Consumer surveys show that uncertainty about a site’s credit card security leads 13 percent of mobile shoppers to abandon the checkout process. Among North American consumers, this fear prevents 25 percent from shopping on mobile devices at all. Identity theft is a concern for 26 percent of this group, and concerns about fraud would keep another third from shopping via their mobile devices.
Secure web payment options — including the aforementioned Android Pay, Apple Pay and the payment request API — let shoppers bypass entering their credit card details on a retailer’s site. To make users feel more secure when they visit your site, add lock icons and label the process “secure.” Research shows that these visible signs make shoppers feel safer, and the safer customers feel, the more likely they are to purchase — and then return to make more purchases.
If you make your customers feel secure, give them an easy-to-navigate experience, and streamline browsing and purchasing, you will quickly see your mobile revenue outpace desktop. By revamping your mobile site and putting these technological innovations in place now, you can bank on this year’s holiday shopping season.
Amanda Naso leads the insights team at Mobify, a mobile shopping platform.
