Optimize Your Mobile Platform Now, Before It’s Too Late
Mobile shopping continues to grow in use, and now accounts for roughly one-third of all e-commerce transactions, according to a recent report from Criteo, a performance marketing technology company. Given that the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce reported last month that the e-commerce revenue total, adjusted for seasonal variation but not for price changes, was $78.1 billion, that’s a very big number. E-commerce sales as percent of all retail sales is currently 6.60%, up from 6.40% last quarter. That’s a quarterly annualized growth rate of 12.50%.
Online retail shifts to mobile content
So if your retailers are not interested in optimizing their m-commerce platforms, they are in for a rocky road for the foreseeable future.
Criteo, in its State of Mobile Commerce report, found that mobile is responsible for more than 30 percent of eCommerce transactions globally and more than 27 percent of eCommerce transactions in the United States.
“There has been a significant lack of information about mobile commerce, leading many marketers to under-estimate the opportunity,” said Jonathan Wolf, Criteo’s Chief Product Officer, in a statement.
So much for thinking smartphones were simply being used for comparison shopping and showrooming. Clearly, shoppers are purchasing through their phones, in fact they now beat out tablets for being the shopping device of choice. The study found 53% of mobile retail transactions use a smartphone. And why not? When a retailer provides a simple, easy to understand and navigate interface with a fast response time, why not purchase while on the site? It’s a no-brainer. Illustrating that trend, mobile conversion rates are improving.
“The report demonstrates that mobile is now about purchasing not just researching, and that there are huge opportunities for eCommerce businesses to capture increasing sales via mobile devices, particularly in the retail and travel industries,” added Wolf. “We expect mobile to rapidly move toward 50% of all transactions, as mobile usage continues to skyrocket and retailers better optimize mobile sites for conversion.”
The report notes that a third of fashion transactions now come from mobile, with average order values close to desktop levels. Further, the top 25 percent of U.S. retailers — companies that would include Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Target and The Home Depot — generate almost 40% of their e-commerce transactions from mobile, compared with 27% for retail in general. The bottom quarter see a very small amount (5 to 10%) of transactions from mobile. That’s four times the share of mobile transactions, a sizable difference.
Retailers should also be aware that shoppers are using various devices; Android devices now make up 39% of smartphone transactions in the U.S. for retail. In addition, Android smartphone share of ecommerce transactions is higher than the iPhone’s in several countries such as Germany, Italy, Spain, South Korea and Brazil.
Mobility, once the wave of the future, is here, and retailers who are ill-prepared will drown in their own antiquated ways. Retailers must ensure their m-commerce sites are tied into their e-commerce and brick and mortar channels, and are effortless to use, because mobility without ease will get them nowhere fast.
