Tips to Optimize Mobile Sales This Holiday Season

If you've ever doubted the validity of mobile as a contributor to your bottom line, holiday season 2012 is here to disavow you of such notions. Just days into peak season, retailers were seeing record-breaking sales from mobile devices. Let's take a look at the influence of mobile during this pivotal time of year and what these trends mean for retailers.

Twenty-four percent of online shoppers used mobile devices on Black Friday, up from 14.3 percent last year. Mobile devices are accounting for a significant amount of online traffic, but are you making the most of it? Online shopping certainly spikes during the holidays, though this traffic tends to remain elevated even after the season ends. This is due in large part to the number of smartphones and tablets that are given as gifts during this time of year and to a lesser degree to the new familiarity the mobile user gains with online holiday shopping. You couldn't ask for a better time to test, test, TEST! Figure out which experiences are optimal, which creative has the greatest influence and how trends differ between devices to fortify your mobile strategy going into 2013.

Mobile transactions accounted for 22 percent of online sales this Cyber Monday. In fact, some sites saw as high as 30 percent of online sales coming from mobile devices. However, current mobile page load times are roughly twice as slow as desktop websites on average. With so many active mobile shoppers, creating a positive experience for them is simply imperative. There's much debate over what that experience should be.

Google has stated its preference for responsive web design, which will prove favorable for search engine optimization goals. However, it's strongly advised that you put the user experience first and, depending on a site's structure and design goals, responsive web design may not be a favorable option. A mobile-specific site then may make more sense to provide your brand with more control over how consumers are engaging on these devices. Whichever approach better fits your brand's needs, the time to implement has come — and almost gone.

The iPhone and iPad were used together in 18.5 percent of online transactions on Black Friday. There's no denying that mobile devices are multitasking accessories — i.e., they provide multiple opportunities to influence a customer's decision, but only one will get credit for the sale. Brands must redefine how they're evaluating direct response to be sure their media spend supports the most influential experiences. For mobile, applying traditional one-to-one measurement can lead to incomplete conclusions, as not all responses may tie directly to revenue though inarguably influence the ultimate conversion. Brands must evaluate consumer interactions and the level of intent they indicate to budget accordingly and elevate their bottom line.

The blockbuster days of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be behind us, though there are still opportunities to capitalize on mobile transactions this holiday season. Be aware of how consumers are engaging and accessing your brand, then apply those learnings to plan for a happy new year.

Kerri Smith is the director of mobility at iProspect. Kerri can be reached at kerri.smith@iprospect.com.