The benefits of extending eCommerce into a B2B app

May 9, 2023 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

.The benefits of extending eCommerce into a B2B app

“Apps drive deeper customer engagement, more conversions, and a higher AOV. Done right, an app can leverage and extend e-commerce and offer a new direction for your omnichannel strategy that will delight buyers.”

Paper order forms, faxes, and even old-fashioned phone calls still tend to dominate the wholesale sales process. While B2B is way behind B2C, the move to digital commerce is underway and accelerating. This is precisely why e-commerce platforms that specialize in delivering B2B tools, features, and functionality are seeing such rapid growth.

A recent Gartner report examines the rapid move toward B2B digital enablement. A key finding is that sales reps no longer drive buying decisions and actual purchases. Instead, online ordering is surging. At the time of the study, sales rep interactions only accounted for 17% of the wholesale purchase journey. 44% of millennials said they prefer no sales rep interaction at all when making buying decisions.

This quote from the report struck me as particularly important. “As baby boomers retire, and millennials mature into key decision-making positions, a digital-first buying posture will become the norm. Further, we expect the acute spike in digital buying during the COVID-19 pandemic to have a sustained influence on customer comfort with digital learning and buying.”

Covid-fueled retail ecommerce has exploded and B2B is finally starting to catch up. Innovative B2B businesses are adopting a “digital-first” stance and consider an app as a logical extension of their online wholesale ordering platforms.

The reason apps play such a big role in B2B is utility. B2B buying is very complex and e-commerce platforms usually tie into an ERP and CRM. Tools for account-based custom pricing and order list management are typically folded in.

The B2B path to purchase can be a winding one and an app can straighten this road by personalizing the online buying experience and delivering it in an always-on manner, literally in the pocket of buyers. Wholesalers considering an app typically cite reducing customer service time/expense and data entry errors as a primary goal.

After all, all wholesale buyers are consumers themselves and COVID-driven retail app adoption and use has skyrocketed in the last two years. Mobile app usage was up 40% during COVID. Another factor is that increasingly, wholesale customers expect an app to make ordering more straightforward and more personalized.

Ask yourself. When did you last login to the Amazon mobile browser? Odds are, you never have since the instantly-personalized experience of the app is far superior. With an app, there’s no need to enter payment information. There’s no need to type in your address, and order history is called up instantly. Page load times are nearly instantaneous. Plus, you get the app-only option of using push messaging to drive deeper engagement with wholesale accounts.

Chef’s Warehouse is one of our biggest B2B customers, and they recently re-platformed to Optimizely. We built their B2B app out to leverage and extend new Optimizely B2B features and functionality. The results have been fantastic. Their reps can easily access customer order history and account-specific pricing, etc. The app consistently delivers a conversion rate that is three times that of the mobile website and the majority of buyers/chefs now use the app for wholesale ordering.

App launch graph

Apps were once thought of as “nice to haves” but this is changing fast. Buyers demand tools to make complex wholesale ordering processes easier. As more wholesale businesses move online and the business starts to catch up to retail, the leaders in the space will be first to market with an app, so they can learn to iterate and phase in new features.

According to Digital Commerce 360, in 2021, online B2B sales grew 17.8% to $1.63 trillion from $1.39 trillion in 2020. In fact, B2B e-commerce sales grew faster than all other manufacturing and distributor sales in the U.S.

Gartner calls the successful delivery of digital, online tools to help smooth the path of the purchase “Buyer Enablement” and concludes the research with the following: “Customers are migrating decisively from in-person channels to digital alternatives…new digital channels must be purpose-built to drive sales performance, justified by a simple truth: customers learn and buy digitally.” 

Apps are all we do, we make the process easy, and the ROI is typically rapid. Orders placed on the app “pour into” your current eCommerce operations. Data is seamlessly synced between the app and your eCommerce back-end.

If you are interested in a custom app to meet your specific needs, please consider visiting our site. We work with customers like Chef’s Warehouse and Binny’s Beverage Depot and can customize an app project specifically designed to meet your unique requirements.

Got app? If not, you should be considering the potential benefits to your wholesale business.

Mobile Commerce & COVID-19: Time For Bold Moves Or A Pause?

January 15, 2020 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Opportunity During Covid-19

Covid-19. These are strange times. Uncharted territories. The new normal is changing daily and it can be scary and bewildering. Covid doesn’t just threaten your health. COVID threatens your finances too.

For online retailers, there seem to be 2 strategies emerging. The first is to push “pause” on e-commerce-related projects and see what happens. The second is moving forward with projects that are specifically geared toward helping mobile consumers get what they need and want in a safe and effective way, online, to drive sales and position now for Holiday 2020.

These moves may seem bold in uncertain times, but they pay off big time, if they honor the trajectory of the numbers being seen and take note of the fact that consumers who were not previously well-acquainted with mobile/online shopping are now being required to take a crash course.

According to Forbes,  “In 2020, e-commerce expects to represent 12% of total retail sales. However, a change in consumer behavior in the first quarter of this year due to COVID-19 can impact future quarters for 2020 and have a profound impact on holiday sales. As the consumer becomes more comfortable with online shopping, and technology is more intuitive and ubiquitous, the digital side of the retail business may be stepped up at a faster rate than previous projections”, writes Shelley Kohan.

Put another way, for most online retailers, now is probably NOT the time to push the pause button. The next quarter represents an opportunity to take advantage of a massive number of people quite literally only shopping online.

So What Are We Doing?

Smart businesses are adapting fast to a new, changing economy that necessitates the need for less face-to-face interaction. Rather than delay projects, they are accelerating them, as shelter-in-place orders sweep the nation. An obvious example of a feature that is suddenly very relevant to retailers that offer it is BOPIS. (buy online, pick up in-store). In most cases, the pick-up is actually outside the store, but the same principle applies. Suddenly having this option takes on a whole new meaning, as customers can avoid crowded checkout lines and pin pads, a possible vector for COVID-19.

For many mid-sized pure-play online retailers, a native app has been on the table for some time. An app is a personal and more deeply engaging extension of your e-commerce operation. Done right, an app can convert sales 2-6X better than simple mobile browsing. App-only features like push notifications can mean direct engagement with customers, at a time when this sort of direct connection is most needed.

According to a March 24th article in Forbes, “these developments were in the works before Covid-19, and the..ramp up online would have happened eventually. But Covid-19 has sped up the process and put those slow to the gate in deep danger. Millions of shoppers who would have never considered shopping online have been forced to do so. It’s quite likely most will like the experience and come back for more”, writes Warren Shouldberg.

Essentially, the shift to a “virtual world” has suddenly changed from a future we might someday see to the new must-do for businesses that want to make it through this.

Some companies are already shining in the new “shelter in place” normal. Online conferencing services are seeing explosive growth for obvious reasons, as work-from-home employees seek collaboration. Premade meal delivery companies like Blue Apron (a 500% increase reported) and grocery delivery services like InstaCart (hiring 300,000 workers) are booming. But these are the obvious winners.

What Should We Do?

For “bricks and clicks” retailers with ecommerce and traditional physical stores, the path to success in the locked down, newly all-virtual economy is not so clear, as the country hunkers down. These retailers will have to shift online and offering easier, faster ordering is going to be key.

For online-only “pure-play” retailers, the choice is not just whether to continue with plans for site improvements or to hit the pause button, but, rather, how best to do it.

Even before COVID-19 upended our lives, many online retailers were considering adding a native app to their omnichannel line-up. The knee-jerk temptation might be to “freeze” all projects that involve vendors. But some retailers are approaching this from a different perspective and moving forward toward a new virtual future that includes a native app.

Even after the immediate “shelter in place” health crisis wanes, these retailers are going to need to adjust to the new “No Touch” economy, if they want to keep customers who rightly seek to limit exposure to transmission vectors. Curbside pick-up suddenly takes on a new importance, if it means customers do not have to brave a crowded checkout line and touch a potentially contaminated pin pad, or even enter the building. Accepting PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay might mean the difference between a sale or no sale if a customer or cashier has to touch physical money. There is increasing worry that even

For businesses deemed essential during lock-down such as supermarkets, liquor stores, pharmacies, and restaurants with take-out, there is an immediate opportunity to dive headlong into

“That irrefutable outcome of COVID-19 will make retailers…do a 180-degree turn and put a massive push behind getting their online operations into competitive shape.

As we roll through Q1 2020, this is a question that deserves a deeper look. While it might seem like a responsive website does the job and only behemoth retailers like Amazon are exploiting the enormous potential of apps, many innovative small to mid-size retailers are already in the game, and usage stats are impressive.

According to Business Insider, Americans spend an average of 123 minutes a day on in-app browsing on their smartphones. That compares to just 13 minutes on the web.  These usage numbers help explain why 70% of mobile purchases in the North American region are done via apps, compared with 30% through browsers on smartphones, per data from BI Intelligence. Globally, year-over-year growth of in-app revenue as a percentage of all online sales jumped 48% (from 31% in Q4 2016 to 46% in Q4 2017).

I have researched and compiled five additional benefits to consider if an app is on your radar:

#1:  Higher Conversions = Higher Revenue

While most retailers have a mobile site, the reality is that mobile apps convert significantly better than mobile sites. How much better?

According to a recent report by Criteo, North American retailers (with a mobile site and an app) saw their apps convert at a whopping 21% in Q4 2017. This number is 3X-5X higher than the average mobile website conversion rate.  Even more impressive is the fact that native retail apps generated 66% of all mobile commerce revenue – twice as much revenue as mobile websites. Apps even outperformed desktop eCommerce sites. They accounted for 44% of all online sales in Q4 2017, versus just 33% for desktop.

#2: Deeper Engagement With Your Best Customers

OK, so apps convert better….but who will download your app? Remember, apps are not for ALL your customers, they are for your BEST customers. Statistically speaking 8% of your customers generate 40%+ of your sales. These are the customers that are most likely to download your app.

Apps also offer a unique opportunity to engage on the go, allowing retailers to interact and ‘touch’ customers proactively including:

  • Push notifications:  Specific calls to action can be delivered to those most likely to be interested and act upon the offer presented.
  • In-store engagement and/or location awareness: Everything from barcode-scanning functionality, and location-based targeting, to buy online and pick-up in-store.
  • Loyalty programs: Go beyond the traditional concept of loyalty programs. Some retailers are adding ‘extra’ rewards for app users. Treating your app-download customer base as a special subset of your customer base can generate big rewards.  

#3: Personalization

Consumers come to expect an experience tailored to them, across all touch-points, apps provide a unique opportunity. They not only track the buyer’s journey but enhance that journey by providing an integrated and personalized experience. This can take many shapes. But there is one feature that is getting a lot of buzz these days, and for good reason:

  • Augmented reality (AR): Fast becoming the new ‘must-have’ feature for top apps, companies like Sephora, Ikea, and Lowes are using apps to tap into on-board cameras to power experiences that allow consumers to marry products with their lives, prior to purchase. This personalized, contextual selling is a powerful new app-specific tool that is on track to be a game-changer. Research from Digital Bridge shows that 69% of consumers expect retailers to launch AR apps within the next six months. Data from Google shows that 34% of users say they would use AR while shopping. 61% say they would prefer to shop at stores that offer AR.

#4: Speed Drives the Frictionless Experience

The probability of a bounce increases by 123% when mobile page loads get to 10 seconds. The same study showed that the average mobile site loads in 9.6 seconds. In comparison, over 50% of current native iOS apps load in less than 5 seconds.

As desktop websites become more clogged with features, responsive design mobile sites are slipping farther and farther behind regarding performance. Even the best responsive web design sites cannot hold a candle to app speed and convenience.  Also, app checkout can be powered by Apple Pay and Android Pay. The result? Checkout speed is lightning-fast, and there are far fewer barriers to buying. Just swipe and buy!

#5: Your Customers Are Likely Expecting An App

No matter who your ideal customer is, it’s likely they would welcome your app. One might think keeping up with technological advances is more interesting to the younger consumer. But, in a recent study by DigitalBridge shoppers aged 35-44 were most disappointed by the lack of technology in retail. Nearly half (48%) said the current offerings are underwhelming. The younger generations join them as well. 43% of 25-34-year-olds and 35% of 18-24-year-olds think that today’s technology in retail could be better.

One of the best aspects of mobile apps is they are inherently geared toward the mobile audience, by design. You can build Custom UI and retailer-specific features with a mobile-first mindset, to meet specific needs. Because apps are purpose-built from whole cloth, the sky is the limit, regarding UI and functionality.

Conclusions

Retailers who want an omnichannel advantage over their competition should be looking at apps. The metrics are conclusive and the conversion rate lift increase alone should mean app development is an imperative initiative.

Annie Dossey from ClearBridge sums the trend up well. “Branching out into the mobile app market is a win-win for retailers. Mobile apps provide retail brands a creative opportunity to give consumers the immediate, personalized shopping experience they prefer. At the same time, retailers can leverage mobile features and in-app analytics to attract, retain, and intuitively understand the purchasing behavior of their customers.”  

To thrive in an ever-increasingly mobile world, market-leading smart retailers will be evolving. They need to offer a deeper, more personalized online shopping experience. Apps make this possible in immersive and custom ways responsive mobile sites simply cannot.  

Native apps should be designed to support your brand. They need to be built well and fully integrated with eCommerce, to leverage and extend current operations. But they should also provide compelling app-specific native utility and specific benefits to your best customers.  Although they have to be marketed to drive discovery and download, the ROI is typically faster than you might think. Apps can also be built rapidly. Especially if a solution provider is used that is pre-integrated with popular e-commerce platforms. Plus, it can deliver iOS and Android apps in the context of a single project.

This trend is now inescapable. The question is not ‘whether’ to get on board, it’s ‘when’ can you make it happen.

Have more questions about developing a native app for your business? CLICK HERE

-Wilson Kerr

Covid-19 should not stop you from making moves

ROI

Retail Apps: How To Calculate ROI

February 20, 2019 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Retail Apps: How To Calculate ROI

Did you know that 50% of online retailers cite mobile apps as a top priority for their 2019 omnichannel strategy (source)?

Are you aware that apps generated 66% of all online mobile revenue in Q4 2017 and that apps converted sales 3X better than mobile websites (source)?

The case for an app has never been stronger. Yet many retailers remain hesitant and wonder if consumers will download their app. They wonder if new app revenue will give them a solid Return On Investment (ROI).

In this article, I will do three things. 1) Set the stage with usage and conversion growth stats for retail apps. 2) Cover the 3 most common ways retail apps are built. 3) Describe how retailers can calculate ROI for an app build.

Note: When I use the term “app” in this piece, I am really talking about TWO apps (iOS and Android).

App Usage Stats

Before we talk about ROI, it’s important to look at some app usage statistics. Stats show that consumers strongly prefer apps over mobile sites, and apps outperform mobile websites, regarding conversions and revenue generation.

According to Comscore, apps accounted for 87% of all US mobile traffic measured in 2017 and that number is accelerating (chart below). Year-over-year “Shopping” mobile app usage grew 54% in 2017- the biggest jump of all categories measured (source)

Consumers are using shopping apps like never before and we can look to the recent 2018 Holiday Season for proof. According to Internet Retailer, consumers downloaded nearly 10M shopping apps on the 5 days of the 2018 Black Friday weekend.

 

While mobile commerce continues to skyrocket, app adoption stands out. Retail app usage by consumers doubled in 2018 (source).

The vast majority of time spent on mobile is spent on apps. According to a report by Criteo, native retail apps generated 66% of all mobile commerce revenue. That’s twice as much revenue as mobile websites. Apps even outperformed desktop eCommerce sites. Apps account for 44% of all online sales in Q4 2017, versus just 33% for desktop in the same period.

And consumers like using apps. According to Business Insider, the app millennials rated as “Most Essential” was Amazon (35%), beating out all social media apps (chart below).

As compared to older mobile users, millennials are 3X more likely to embrace apps and be excited about new features added to apps they already use (ComScore). Most millennials are looking for new apps and wish they could better utilize the apps they have on their phones

Options For Building Retail Apps

Now that we have looked at the stats, let’s shift gears. Let’s take a look at the three most common approaches for building native mobile apps. One option I do NOT cover here is an “app wrapper” approach.  That’s one where your current mobile web experience is simply “framed” inside an app. This is not a real app experience and offers few of the benefits.

Note: Shopping apps must be integrated with the e-commerce platform a retailer is already using (Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, etc.) Using a solution provider that has experience in this regard is key.

The three most common approaches for building a native app are:

  • The Agency Model.

    This typically means hiring a design agency to create the UI and then having the code written. These projects are typically in the $100K+ range and require the retailer to support the app code (for both apps). Remember, most agencies do not have deep e-commerce integration experience. So, while they might deliver stunning designs, their lack of e-commerce platform integration experience might come back to haunt you.

  • The In-House Model.

    A retailer staffs up and has the resources to design build, and maintain both apps, in-house. This may be the right choice for big retailers who want their native app experience to be a core competency. Specifically one they want to strategically invest in, via resources and infrastructure they own.

  • The SaaS Platform Model

    A retailer works with a third-party Software As A Service (SaaS) platform that already integrates with the published APIs from most major e-commerce platforms.  The solution provider delivers custom designs on top of this proven “foundation” for both iOS and Android. The partner builds and hosts the apps and provides a secure control panel to the retailer, for changing imagery, sending push messaging, etc.

So, as you consider these three approaches, keep the Total Cost Of Ownership (TCO) in mind, over the long term. Both Google and Apple introduce new device platforms and software updates quite often. A big part of having an app is supporting that app and keeping things smoothly integrated with your e-commerce platform and generally up-to-date.

Calculating ROI – Conversions, Conversions, Conversions

ROI is simply a matter of generating enough revenue to pay back the investment on a net basis. This can be calculated via pure math, but there should also be a value placed on a better user experience. While the latter is harder to quantify, the former is literally a matter of tracking app sales and applying the net upside (after margin) to the cost of the project. With proper GA tagging, this is as easy as looking at your analytics dashboard.

Native mobile apps convert sales at a rate significantly higher than mobile sites served via a browser. This all-important conversion rate metric is the first place to look when considering how to calculate app-build ROI.

Online retailers should start by knowing their current mobile website conversion rate. Put simply, this is the number of people who had a chance to buy (site visitors) and then did so (transactions) and Google Analytics breaks this out. Typically, mobile sites offer conversion rates stuck in the 1.5-2.0% range (about half that of the desktop conversion rate). Native mobile apps, on the other hand, boast conversion rates averaging 6%, according to Forrester.  

While this conversion rate lift should be reason alone to build a native app, here are some more stats to further the case:

  • App users browse more products (22 on average vs. 5.7 for mobile web).
  • App users add more to the cart (24% vs. 13% for mobile web).
  • App users complete more purchases, once they add an item to their cart (54% for apps vs. 44% for mobile web).

So, if your conversion rate from mobile traffic to your responsive website is stagnant (and you should find out), a native app can turbocharge this all-important conversion rate stat and allow you to reap the rewards in terms of additional revenue.

Calculating ROI – Personalized Engagement With Your Best Customers

But more revenue from higher conversion rates is just PART of the reason to build an app. Statistically- speaking just 10% of your customers generate a whopping 40%+ of your sales and these are the VIP customers that are most likely to download and use your app. An app provides important engagement benefits for these customers and here are some specific ways an app can help you take personalized customer engagement to a deeper level:

  • Push Notifications:

    Unlike email blasts that you lose in the clutter, specific calls to action delivered via in-app push messages only render to opt-in customers who have your app. These being the very customers most likely to act upon the offer presented. Click-through rates for push messages averaged 7.8% in 2018 (source).

  • In-Store Engagement:

    App features like location awareness, barcode scanning, product image recognition, AR, beacons, and buy online and pick-up in-store (BOPIS) can all be used to drive app users to physical stores. This cross-channel appeal is key to understanding.

  • Loyalty:

    Apps are perfectly suited to incorporate Loyalty Programs because the interaction with the app is inherently personalized. When the app is opened, the user is ALREADY logged in. The experience is tailored to them, including the display of points earned, discounts awarded, etc. Treating your app-download customer base as a special subset of your loyal customer base can generate big rewards.

  • Augmented Reality/Visual Search:

    Apps can activate the camera on the phone and then overlay real products into a scene, by way of Augmented Reality. Apps can also trigger visual search via image recognition to allow in-store interactions to drive sales. More and more retailers are experimenting with these app add-ons and the results are impressive. After all, 83% of consumers ages 18 to 44 used a mobile device in stores in 2018 (source).

These examples of app-based interactions add personalized, deep engagement to the mobile shopping experience which can, in turn, drive more sales. They also link the digital and physical worlds so an app can support retail locations, as well as better online sales metrics.

Calculating ROI – Faster Checkout, Less Cart Abandonment

Cart abandonment is a BIG problem on the mobile web, with over 85% of all mobile website carts abandoned (source).

Retail apps can help combat this in a number of ways. The first is that, by simply opening an app, the consumer is already logged in. This means no need to enter a password, address, or credit card data. This greatly reduces checkout friction, boosts conversion rates, and lowers cart abandonment rates. Apps also typically feature mobile wallets at checkout like PayPal, MasterPass, and GooglePay which further speed up the checkout process.

As consumers come to expect an experience tailored to them across all touch-points, apps provide a unique opportunity to not only track the buyer’s journey but enhance that journey by providing an integrated and personalized experience. While this can take many shapes and deliver various benefits, faster checkout and reduced cart abandonment rates add money to your bottom line and drive the ROI.

Calculating ROI: Speed Wins

According to a Google study, when mobile page loads get to 10 seconds, the probability of a bounce increases by 123%. The same study showed that the average mobile website loads in 9.6 seconds. In comparison, over 50% of current native iOS apps load in less than 5 seconds.

As desktop websites become more and more clogged with features, responsive design mobile sites are slipping farther behind regarding performance. Even the best responsive web design mobile sites cannot hold a candle to app speed and convenience.  Put simply, apps are faster because they use on-device caching to store the data used to render the shopping experience. A native mobile app is literally always on and in the device. Your best customers interact with you for 3+ hours/day (source).

Conclusions

Retailers considering building an app should do so with ROI in mind. After all, who wants to invest in a new omnichannel mobile retail experience that does not pay for itself? Higher conversion rates are the best metric for generating this revenue. That said, there are many other reasons to offer an app. Personalized, deeper engagement with your best customers can pay off too.

Remember, you will need 2 apps (iOS and Android) and retailers should be wary of design-heavy proposals from agencies that do not include maintaining or updating your apps, once delivered. Bringing app-build capabilities in-house is always an option for retailers with deep pockets. Retailers who want to leverage a custom design AND an API integration into the e-commerce platform they are already on can consider a platform-build approach, so data and orders flow seamlessly to/from current e-commerce operations.

Retail mobile native app adoption and usage is growing. Smart retailers will offer a native app to drive deep, personalized engagement with their best customers AND yield a rapid return on investment via improved conversions, lower rates of cart abandonment, and better/faster performance. Remember, 70% of millennials are looking for new apps and 50% of retailers surveyed have prioritized an app for 2019.

In closing, ask yourself this: When did you last visit Amazon’s mobile website using a browser on your phone? You most likely never have. Why? It’s because the personalized, fast, and convenient tools Amazon adds to their native app make using the mobile site obsolete. The same logic should apply to retailers looking to win in 2019. If done right, a rapid ROI will be the result.

Have more questions about developing a native app for your business or calculating ROI? CLICK HERE

Author: Wilson Kerr, VP Business Development and Sales. February 20, 2019. Copyright Unbound Commerce.

Progressive Web Apps

Progressive Web Apps: What They Are and Why They Matter

June 11, 2018 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

ju.Published in Digital Commerce 360 by Internet Retailer May 28, 2018

The new hot thing… a lot of buzz…but what are Progressive Web Apps (PWA)? Are they an app? A website? The name is confusing, but the potential upside PWAs offer online retailers is becoming increasingly apparent. Conversion rates from mobile traffic continue to stagnate, while traffic grows.

In this post, I will shed some light on PWAs by explaining the problems they are trying to solve, and what they are.  I will also explain why this new mobile technology toolkit has clear benefits for both consumers and merchants in an ever-increasingly mobile world.

The Problem

Online retailers have a big problem: stagnant mobile conversion rates. When Responsive Web Design (RWD) took the e-commerce world by storm five years ago, retailers happily jumped at the chance to offer a “one site for everyone” strategy. They simply reformatted their desktop sites to fit smaller screens. It sounded great! While there were sacrifices in page-load times, many online retailers welcomed the perceived simplicity and reduced workload that RWD promised.

When mobile was 20-30% of traffic, the benefits of not having to manage “another mobile site” might have made some sense. But, as mobile traffic surges past 50, 60, 70, or even 80% for some retailers? The fact that mobile and desktop are inextricably linked by RWD (as a single site) is starting to become a big pain point.

Remember, the mobile site is really just a reformatted version of the responsively built desktop site. As such, stagnated mobile conversion rates cannot even be addressed as a specific problem to solve.

The Numbers (Ouch)

Mobile page-load times (performance) remain the weak link for RWD sites. They are a primary contributing factor to poor conversion metrics. Report after report shows a direct correlation between page-load time increases and conversion rate decreases. One report showed a 27% lift in conversion rates, for each second of page load time improvement. Building a robust desktop retail experience is of course crucial. But trying to cram that same rich experience into a smartphone by simply re-formatting the pages is clearly not working.

As evidence of this fact consider that, according to a Monetate report, the US mobile conversion rate for retailers in the US was 1.54% in Q1 2017. That’s a DROP from Q4 2016, when it was 1.65%. Looking back even further to the quarterly reports between 2013 to 2017? We can see that mobile conversion rates stay stuck between 1 and 2%. Essentially, these numbers have been static and unimproved for 5+ years. In this same time period, the average percentage of global web pages rendered to mobile devices jumped from 16% in 2013 to over 50% in 2017.

Can Progressive Web Apps Fill The Void?

For an increasing number of retailers, commerce-enabled native apps offer some relief from this conversion problem.  They do this by converting at a rate that is typically 4-6X higher than mobile web traffic. Apps load fast and sit on the consumer’s smartphone, always-on, on and ready to take orders. While you need to discover and download apps, they are a powerful way to drive deeper engagement with the statistically smaller percentage of users that drive the majority of a retailer’s business.

According to a 2017 Criteo report, app conversion rates for retailers measured at 18% in Q4 2017. According to this same report, for retailers with both an app and a mobile-optimized site, in Q4 2017, native apps were responsible for a whopping 66% of mobile sales.  In Q1 2018, the conversion rate for apps increased to 20%.

Google’s Role, Google’s Solution

Google has likely been watching the move-to-apps trend with some dismay. This is because they are not very good at indexing Apple’s “walled garden” within the app store. The more traffic and transactions occurring on native apps, the less Google knows what is happening. This impacts its ability to make advertising hay from the data it extrapolates from this web activity. For Google and their AdWords bots, iOS app-based retail interactions are like a “blind spot”.

Google is a smart company, with smart people working for them. So, in 2015, Google saw its trend toward apps coming and introduced a solution to the mobile website conversion problem. They called them Progressive Web Apps (PWAs). This is an odd choice in a name since this is really a toolkit for increasing browser-based mobile site performance by mimicking on-device caching of data. (Why they put the word “apps” in the name is beyond me… but I digress).

Progressive Web Apps Are Not Apps

Despite the word “app” on the name, PWAs are not apps. They are a methodology. A set of guidelines. A toolkit. A list of rules to follow for developers. They allow them to build and render mobile sites in ways that significantly improve their page load times/performance. They do this by merging the best of what apps offer (speed) and the best of the mobile web. (Easy access by anyone). And, because the PWA “shell” is separated from the content that is served within it, the experience just “feels” more app-like. It’s on-device, fast, and removed the “disconnect” that slow page load speeds can impart.

The Need For Speed: Caching and Service Workers

Google launched PWAs by using its Android operating system as a sort of Trojan Horse. They did this by adding something called Service Workers to it. Service Workers are pieces of code (Javascript files) that are built into the operating system. They facilitate the input of data from one API (in this case the retail e-commerce platform) and another API. Then store (cache) that data separately, on the device.

The reason this has a massive impact on performance is that the data used to render the mobile commerce experience does not need to be called up each time. It is already there, cached/stored on the phone, so page load times are nearly instantaneous. Remember that statistic about each second of page load time being linked to a 27% increase in conversion rates…?

Web-Based Push

Another benefit of PWAs is that they mimic one of the big native app differentiators: push notifications. Again, since the “shell” of the PWA is “downloaded” and stored on the user’s home screen, like a native app, a retailer can send messages that pop up. But only to customers who choose to add the icon to their phone. Since it’s likely that this message is going to a very dedicated customer, it is also highly likely they will act upon that call to action in the message and buy something. This helps drive increased conversion rates.

Compliance Measurement and the “SEO Carrot”

Google has wisely created a tool for measuring PWA compliance called Lighthouse. They are pushing the advantages of compliance while continuing to educate the developer community and court big retailers.

Google has a seriously valuable carrot to dangle for retailers considering adopting the PWA standards. They can promise preferential SEO page rank. Reaping the rewards of turbo-charging their Google page rank might be reason alone to move to a PWA (regarding ROI) for some.

Adoption: Slow Start, But Apple Finally On-Board

For a while, Google and its Android OS were alone in supporting Service Workers. But, as developers started using the PWA toolkit and seeing results, a lot of pressure was put on Apple. Finally, they introduced support for Service Workers in its latest iOS version release. Translation:  PWAs (and the Service Workers so key to their advantage) now work on iPhones! For many retailers we work with, this was cited as a reason they were staying in wait-and-see mode on PWAs.

While Google is getting some PWA traction among content-serving websites, retailers in the US have been slow to jump on board. Even with Apple supporting Service Workers, many retailers are so deeply entrenched with their (slow on mobile) RWD sites. The notion of going “back to the future” and launching a dedicated “m-dot” site causes them angst.

Currently, there are only a few US retailers with live PWA mobile sites. One worth mentioning is Lancôme. We currently have several large PWA projects underway and are starting to get requests for more information. If a PWA is on your radar or if you have questions, please reach out.

Conclusions

A PWA is a powerful new solution to poor performance. Retailers should be researching and considering them, in direct proportion to their awareness that having a poor (and static) mobile traffic conversion rate is not sustainable in the face of ever-increasing mobile traffic numbers.

I should probably note here that PWAs are not just for mobile. They can improve desktop site performance too. But, for retailers, mobile is where the pain point is. As such, that is where PWAs have the most potential to move the bar.

For mobile shoppers, It’s solely an upside. As they will still browse retail websites. When they do, they will experience nearly instantaneous page loads. Not to mention, have the ability to “download” or pin an icon to their device’s home screen, like an app. If they choose to, they can receive special web-served offers that pop-up on their smartphone, just like native in-app push notifications. But, importantly, they never had to go to an app store and download a native app to their phone.

For merchants with repeat buyers and a dedicated customer base, PWAs offer a powerful new way to deliver a browser-based mobile experience. One that offers the speed of an app and will boost their Google SEO page rank. Even if a plan to build and launch a native app is in place, it’s time to think about treating mobile browser traffic as unique and worthy of an experience that can finally move the needle and improve long-stagnant conversion rates.

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To learn more about PWAs and/or to discuss how progressive web apps can help you increase mobile page-load times and lift mobile conversions, please reach out to Wilson Kerr via [email protected] or click here.

Customer Success at Unbound Commerce

February 2, 2017 , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The best part of our job at Unbound is seeing our customers having astounding success with the mobile solutions we did together.

Unbound new app
FitMama, a fitness apparel retailer, deployed a new mobile app for their customers. Unbound Commerce designed the app to not simply sell clothing but to help promote the healthy lifestyle that customers associate with FitMama. The merchant targeted their top customers to download the app. Within 4 months, 35% of FitMama’s total sales were coming through the app. Not all retailers are the perfect fit for a mobile app. But for those who have, or want to cultivate a loyal and engaged customer base, apps can be a breakthrough. According to Erika Boom, Owner, FitMama Apparel, “The combination of push notifications with one-touch checkout makes this a killer app for us. It’s a great way for Unbound to engage our loyal customers. And it makes it super easy for them to buy from us.”

Unbound proves customer success
Sports Unlimited struggled with a low conversion rate on mobile. As their mobile traffic grew, the problem became acute. Since they started working with Unbound, the retailer has seen dramatic results. “Since we’ve deployed our mobile site, not only have visitors greatly increased. But mobile conversion rates have gone up 500% and AOV increased by 27%,” according to Mike Neff, e-commerce director. Reflecting after the project, Neff commented: “It’s been really easy. It’s clear that Unbound has done all the leg work for us. This is one of the easiest e-commerce initiatives we’ve ever done.”

Consult with one of our product experts at Unbound to see what your numbers could be.

Contact Us

RWD vs Dedicated Mobile Site

The Great Debate: Responsive Design VS Dedicated Mobile Commerce

June 25, 2015 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Great Debate: Responsive Web Design (RWD) vs Dedicated Mobile Commerce.

Responsive Web Design (RWD) is a hot topic. On one hand, the appeal of “one site fits all” is understandable. But retailers should take a careful, deeper look before jumping on this bandwagon.

We speak with retailers every day and the two most common claims we hear in favor of responsive are:

1) Google recommends it, and

2) One, single site displayed on all devices will be easier to manage.

In this post, we’ll address these two points head-on.

1) The Google SEO Recommendation Fallacy

Advocates and solution providers that sell RWD happily spread the claim that Google recommends it. It’s true that Google once stated that it recommends responsive, but they’ve never connected this to a negative implication regarding SEO rankings and they certainly have never called out the profound differences between content sites and commerce sites. Google makes its billions off advertising and it’s easy to see how responsive makes THEIR job easier. But, obviously, the real question is what is right for you, as a merchant.

Plus, Google almost immediately backtracked from this recommendation. Maile Ohye, SEO lead at Google, clarified that Google is neutral among the 3 different approaches: responsive, dynamic content, or a dedicated mobile site. What he said, regarding best practices from the perspective of Google crawlers & algorithms, was, “All three options work well for users and for Google, so use the best implementation based on your infrastructure, content, and audience”.

Again, retail sites and content sites are NOT the same. You can read more about this in The Definitive Guide To Technical Mobile SEO from SearchEngineLand, a major authority in this space. The key to understanding here is the use of alternate/canonical tags on the desktop & mobile sites respectively, as recommended by Google.

Of course, Unbound follows this best practice, while delivering a custom mobile experience built from “whole cloth” specifically structured for maximum mobile conversion rates, delivered to a (growing) mobile audience.

In fact, there are times when RWD actually hurts SEO rankings, as noted in this article, titled “When Responsive Web Design Is Bad For SEO”.

“The one URL argument for dynamic serving and responsive design’s superiority is moot with the introduction of switchboard tags, as Google can now understand which site should appear when regardless of URL structure.”

2) The One-Site-Fits-All Fallacy

The promise of RWD is that a single set of HTML codes can serve all device sizes. This is possible because the site is able to adjust itself for that screen size.

While it’s a neat trick and an easy, quick sell, we assert that this approach is actually a significant disadvantage, especially for retailers. And top e-commerce retailers seem to agree. Amazon, Walmart, Staples, Zappos, (and Google). All of them could employ any approach they want and have decided that responsive is not for them. Why not? Here are some key reasons:

  • RWD sites are slow.

    All the code (for mobile & desktop) is delivered to the browser. The browser has the responsibility to sort it all out based on what kind of device is using it. This takes time and every second a page loads kills conversion rates.

  • Mobile is so much more than just a difference in screen size.

    Mobile is personal, and it is always on. Mobile commerce is conducted in different ways for different reasons, at different times. Mobile consumers behave differently, so why offer them the same experience as desktops, shrunken down? Mobile is FAR too important to be thought of this way. And will only become more so.

  • Is RWD really simpler?

    Rather than being simpler, responsive is actually more complex in many ways. If you want to make a change to the desktop experience, you need to test it on ALL leading mobile devices too. This is because mobile & desktop are inextricably entangled.

  • RWD costs more.

    Retailers that investigate quickly find out that the site build costs for responsive far exceed the cost of a typical dedicated mobile site. And for the reasons stated above, the long-term implications add even more. Content and visual assets are often built twice. This adds unexpected time, effort, and… cost.

  • Mobile is trapped.

    The requirement for using the same code base for mobile and desktop is really a limitation, not an advantage. Mobile is “trapped” and sentenced to always be a “necessary derivative” of e-commerce.

Simply put, if you want to create a distinctly mobile experience for your growing mobile customer base, designed for maximum conversions and fast page load times? RWD is NOT the right choice.

Summary

RWD has no SEO advantage. It’s clearly more expensive up front, and we don’t think there’s any ongoing cost of ownership advantages. And in our view, it’s not really mobile optimization. Because it’s dependent on the desktop site code, it’s more of a mobile compromise, rather than any advantage.

At Unbound, we employ RWD in select circumstances (usually in the checkout flow, when required). But we don’t think that merely resizing a website based on screen size is a sufficient methodology for mobile optimization. Very different settings use mobile. This leads to different use cases and priorities. Maintaining the ability to cater specifically to this rapidly growing audience is KEY.

The mobile experience needs to be much more than the shrunken version of your desktop retail offering. We think the best way to achieve that is by using distinct, mobile-optimized templates and built-in mobile features. We can design & develop them for the mobile user, to achieve maximum page load times and conversion rates.

Plus RWD is typically more expensive to implement and negatively impacts site performance.

As mobile grows, so do the negative implications of locking yourself into a single code base that is trying to be all things to all people.

Is Responsive Overhyped?

April 28, 2015 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is Responsive Overhyped?

Responsive Web Design is all the rage.  All of a sudden, we hear advocates asserting that “responsive is the way to develop sites.”  Or “Google recommends responsive for SEO.”

Observers might think that this approach has become the de facto standard among e-commerce leaders.  But a close look at the top companies in the Internet Retailer rankings, reveals a surprising reality:

Responsive Adoption among Top Retailers March'15

Among these top 16 retailers, only 2 have gone with responsive, despite obviously having the resources to do so if they wished.

So, what’s the disconnect here?  Why hasn’t this hot-trending technique taken hold among the industry leaders?  Are we confusing mobile-friendly as mobile-optimized?

Pros & Cons Summary

The table below summarizes the key advantages and disadvantages of responsive and dedicated approaches to mobile.

Responsive Dedicated
Advantages
  • Satisfies Google’s mobile-friendly requirement
  • Only 1 site to maintain leads to a low cost of ownership
  • The mobile experience is not tethered to the desktop experience
  • More cost-effective if you want to maintain mobile as a distinct experience
Disadvantages
  • Slow performance
  • Higher one-time cost
  • Disruptive to the desktop site
  • Two sites to maintain

What Is Responsive Web Design?

We can answer this from 3 vantage points:

  • Technical: Responsive is the use of a media query in a website’s HTML, giving formatting instructions to the browser, and instructing the browser how to reformat the page to fit the width of the screen.
  • Design:  a design approach that allows different device types to be served by a single set of HTML pages.
  • Strategy:  an approach of “one site fits all” for handling different types of devices.

Responsive Technique

Another way of looking at responsive is how Google positions responsive alongside the 2 other recommended approaches to mobile:

  • Responsive web design: Serves the same HTML code on the same URL regardless of the user’s device (desktop, tablet, mobile, non-visual browser), but can render the display differently (i.e., “respond”) based on the screen size.  Responsive design is Google’s recommended design pattern.[1]
  • Dynamic serving [aka Adaptive]: Uses the same URL regardless of device, but generates a different version of HTML for different device types based on what the server knows about the user’s browser.
  • Separate URLs [aka Dedicated]: Serves different code to each device, and on separate URLs. This configuration tries to detect the users’ device, then redirects to the appropriate page using HTTP redirects] along with the Vary HTTP header.

[1] Google goes on to say that they do not favor any particular URL format as long as the page(s) and all page assets are accessible to all Googlebot user agents.

Responsive Strengths

Responsive is an elegant solution for handling small screen sizes.  By reprogramming the desktop site’s HTML and redesigning the layout, site owners can deliver pages that know how to adjust for screen size via a media query, that lets the html respond to the browser’s screen width.

Responsive meets the standards Google has set for being mobile-friendly.  Due to this, responsive sites, properly done, will be saved from Google’s Mobilegeddon.

And because of the “one-site-fits-all” approach, there are fewer content elements to control and therefore fewer management tasks.  Advocates of responsive say this leads to a lower cost of ownership.

Responsive Weaknesses

Responsive has one glaring problem:  slow page load speeds.  A responsive page works by delivering more content to the smartphone, and then asking the mobile browser to sort things out based on its screen width.  This performance gap was reported by Internet Retailer:

It turns out responsive design sites are slow on smartphones, very slow. That’s the conclusion that emerges from an Internet Retailer-exclusive, monthlong study of 12 e-retail responsive design sites conducted by web and mobile performance testing, monitoring and analytics firm Keynote.

A secondary weakness is that deploying responsive is complex and can be disruptive to the main website.  As a result, responsive deployments tend to be more expensive than dedicated projects.

Dedicated Strengths

Dedicated is the better choice when a retailer actually wants to have the mobile experience different than the desktop experience.  The “one-site-fits-all” advocates might ask why you’d ever want to deliver different experiences. There are several compelling reasons because – as we all know – mobile is so much more than just a small screen:

  • Mobile UI Capabilities – Mobile brings enhanced capabilities for interaction – such as location, touch, voice, camera, fingerprint, and motion. All can add richness to the mobile experience.  Today’s desktop site does not support these capabilities, nor does it need to.
  • Different User Circumstances – Consumers have their phones in many places and settings that the desktop site needn’t worry about:  in stores; on sports fields, in the garage, where the retailer’s product is being used; or in social settings.  Most retailers can find new advantages here.
  • Different Desired Outcomes – Because of its omnipresence, mobile is the ideal omni-channel device.  We know consumers use mobile for product discovery & research, even when they complete the purchase in a different channel – online, in-store, or call center.  Why wouldn’t the mobile UI help facilitate this in a way that’s different than the desktop?  Different calls to action; and different ways to prioritize them.

Dedicated Weaknesses

The conventional wisdom is that a dedicated site is something else to manage and that it represents an additional cost of ownership.  Conversely, the counter view is that dedicated is a more cost-effective way to manage your mobile customers.

In addition, it is often asserted that Google will give an advantage to responsive sites.  But, as discussed in the What Is Responsive section above, Google states that it does not favor responsive over dedicated.

Perspective

  1. Responsive is a good choice for adapting a desktop site for the small screen.
    As a web development technique, it’s an elegant way to deliver a small screen experience.
  2. Dedicated sites are the better choice if the retailer wants the mobile experience to take full advantage of uniquely mobile capabilities.
    For retailers who want to get the most out of mobile, dedicated sites make it easier to build a mobile-specific experience — one that takes advantage of unique mobile capabilities that the desktop site isn’t geared for.  And to deliver different calls-to-action that optimize across all channels.

Responsive is a very useful technique for adjusting web pages to screen size. Due to this, developers love it as a tool.  Unbound uses it as one of several methods for integrating the mobile experience into the retailer’s web infrastructure.

But that doesn’t make it a good mobile strategy.

If mobile-friendly is good enough for your company, then responsive is a fine choice.  Comparatively, a better choice for your company might be to take full advantage of mobile-unique capabilities and deliver a distinct mobile experience.  Unbound loves working with retailers who want to make the most out of mobile.

 

Keith Lietzke is the Co-Founder of Unbound Commerce.  You can reach him at [email protected].

mobile commerce gap

Understanding The “Mobile Commerce Gap”: 5 Things Every Online Retailer Should Know

April 6, 2015 , , , , , , , , , , , ,

THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED IN 2011 BUT REMAINS RELEVANT TODAY. The numbers projected in this post have virtually ALL been exceeded. Some, by a wide margin. It’s exceptionally important to understand the Mobile Commerce Gap.

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From May 24, 2011, by Wilson Kerr.

Understanding the “Mobile Commerce Gap”: 5 Things Every Online Retailer Should Know

 Sometime this year, 50% of Americans will own a web-connected smartphone. Yet less than 20% of online retailers optimize their websites and format them to serve these mobile consumers.

I am calling this the “mobile commerce gap”. The reason for the mobile commerce gap, this inequity between demand and supply, in my opinion, is because the internal resources required for online retailers to properly develop a mobile commerce site have been pulled in other directions, even as smartphone adoption rates have exploded. As a result, a majority of online retailers are offering their mobile customers a very poor online shopping experience. This, in turn, results in poor conversion rates and missed sales. Not to mention the fact that consumers are left with the general impression that the retail brand is not serving their needs.

Think about it. How many times do you visit a site on your smartphone and immediately leave when you see it is not optimized for mobile? According to Google, this happens 79% of the time! That’s the mobile commerce gap.


Why this Gap?

The first distraction came in 2009 when retailers and brands alike were told they must “drop everything and build an iPhone app”. While apps are great for some things, a vast array of surveys and studies have concluded that consumers much prefer a mobile site over an app for commerce. The second was the social media craze of last year, as Facebook, Twitter, and the rest dominated headlines and became “must-haves”. Both soaked up internal IT resources and distracted online retailers from building the mobile-optimized sites needed to serve their increasingly mobile customers.

So, what are the factors online retailers should consider, as they investigate offering their customers the ability to convert sales from their mobile devices via a mobile commerce site? I hope the following 5 points will clear some things up:

1) There is No “Mobile Web”

While it is true that most “standard” websites are capable of being viewed on a web-enabled phone, few consumers are willing to “pinch and zoom” their way into a converted sale on a standard site jammed into a small screen. Ever tried this? It’s not fun.

While the need for mobile-optimized sites might seem obvious, many retailers justify not investing in mobile commerce by citing low mobile-originating traffic to their current site (usually 2-5%).  Of course, the fact that mobile customers seldom return to a site after such a poor user experience greets them causes this low-traffic negative feedback loop. The retailer then concludes there is no need to invest in the “mobile web”. Again, there is no “mobile web”.  There is only the web, that you view on a mobile device.

2) Mobile Commerce is NOT Mobile Payments

There is a lot of “noise” right now regarding mobile payments at the point of sale when the phone is used as a “mobile wallet” to pay for coffee and the like. While mobile payments might well emerge as an issue retailers need to address, this is not the same as mobile commerce. Mobile payments involve banks, credit cards, investments in point-of-sale infrastructure, coupons, NFC,  loyalty cards, and a whole array of complex issues.

Mobile commerce is simply the act of ordering something online, from your mobile phone, via a mobile-optimized version of a website. Retailers should not confuse the two, or delay the launch of a mobile commerce site while trying to understand mobile payment options and what uniform technology may or may not emerge victorious.

3) Mobile Commerce “Actualizes” Mobile Marketing

Remember, every time a consumer clicks on a marketing or advertising link to your website on their mobile phone, they should land on a site that is optimized for the device they are accessing that message on.  Whether a tweet, a Facebook post, a banner ad, a QR code, an SMS message, or an email.  The mobile consumer who acts upon the message should be able to convert that action easily into a sale, via a mobile commerce site. If you are a retailer and do not have a mobile commerce site and are spending money on social media marketing or mobile advertising? You are likely paying to promote links to a very poor customer experience.

4) Integrate, Don’t Duplicate

There are several options for creating a mobile commerce site. You could use a transcoder to “screen scrape” your standard website and shrink it to fit a mobile screen. One method is, that you could “sub-out” your mobile commerce efforts to a third party. You could do this by letting them “handle it” with their own separate and duplicative mobile store. You could also leverage and extend your current, proven, and trusted e-commerce operations into mobile via an integrated solution.
This is a superior approach, in my opinion, as it means you are avoiding duplication. You do so while also maintaining full in-house control and fueling mobile commerce from the same infrastructure you trust today for your e-commerce operations.  A software-based integration approach takes a bit more effort on the front side, but the long-term benefits are significant, as this single effort if done properly, can serve as the foundation for not only mobile commerce but also Facebook commerce and commerce-enabled iPhone and Android apps, as needed.

5) Devote IT Resources, Plan For Growth

The single biggest reason I hear retailers give for not moving on mobile commerce is a lack of IT resources. Simply put, this is a poor excuse. While it may be true that IT is backed up, the measurable, tracked ROI that mobile commerce offers should elevate this to the top of the list. The ROI is extremely rapid, by even the most conservative estimates of the resulting tracked, incremental mobile commerce sales. Retailers and brands that are out ahead of the curve will be the biggest winners. As long as they plan for growth and choose the right approach.

Fixing the Gap creates Growth
Compelling Numbers

Still not convinced that mobile commerce is a “must have”? In recent weeks Google and other mobile marketing players have begun encouraging retailers to sit up and take notice of this gap. They can’t sell online retailers mobile marketing campaigns if they have no place for the target audience to “land” when they click through a mobile campaign ad/link.

Fix the Mobile Commerce Gap

Google and others are pointing to studies and reports that contain numbers that are hard to ignore. Here is a sampling:

  • $1.9 Billion: Worldwide online mobile sales in 2009.
  • $23.8 Billion: Expected worldwide online mobile sales in 2015.
  • 61%: The percentage of mobile users unlikely to return to a site not optimized for mobile.
  • 79%: The percentage of Google retailer advertisers who DO NOT have a mobile site.
  • 78%: The percentage of consumers who prefer a mobile site over an app.
  • 62%: The percentage of smartphone owners who have purchased physical goods via their phone in the last 6 months.
  • 2-5%: The typical percentage of mobile traffic coming to a non-optimized retail website.
  • 5X: The typical increase in conversion rates, upon the launch of a mobile commerce
  • Sources: Adobe-Mobile Shopper Insights, Google, eMarketer, Shop.org, Coda Research, Unbound Commerce.

The Time To Fix the Gap Is Now

Your customers are mobile and they are very likely trying to access your site on their smartphones right now. If they still see your “standard” e-commerce site crammed onto a small screen?  You are delivering a poor customer experience and, as such, miss out on incremental mobile sales. Try it yourself!

Fix The Gap Now

Some experts expect mobile commerce to grow to become as much as 10-15% of online sales. Retailers should weigh the risks of launching a solution that their current operations have yet to integrate with. What might not be a problem at first could emerge as a big issue when mobile commerce makes up a significant percentage of online sales. Find the resources. Take the time, and consider building/launching a mobile site ASAP that leverages and extends current online sales operations.

You will provide consumers with a positive mobile interaction with your brand that also drives significant incremental, tracked revenue. Mobile commerce is here and the time to take advantage via a mobile commerce site is now!

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Wilson Kerr (@WLLK) is a former Tele Atlas exec and LBS consultant. He now leads Sales and Business Development for  Unbound Commerce.

Contact him today to learn more. [email protected] Boston Mobile: 303-249-2083.

Contact Us 

2013 Year in Review: Five Key Mobile Mentality Posts

January 7, 2014 , , , , , , , ,

calendar

2013 was a year of incredible growth, not just for Apptive, but for the mobile ecosystem as a whole. 2014 is set to continue the trend as advanced mobile strategy sets the divide for ecommerce merchants worldwide.

In order to make sure you get 2014 kicked off on the right foot, we curated some of the most useful posts from the Apptive blog up to this point. Check these out to get caught up on mobile strategy for the new year!

Think Mobile, Act Local

Have a physical presence but want to engage with your users on mobile devices? This post will give you insight into a mobile customer’s mindset and strategies to effectively engage them.

Infographic: Email Marketing vs. Facebook Page vs. Mobile App

How do you market to an online audience? This infographic will give you a quick (and dare we say, attractive?) visual guide to three primary methods of digital marketing.

The Smartphone Impulse

Impulse buying has a bad rep. This blog post will show you how to trigger impulse purchases the right way in order to increase customer satisfaction as quickly as you increase your sales.

How to Match App Design to iOS7

2013 also marked the release of Apple’s most significant update of their iOS operating system. This post will help you match the style of your app to the iOS7 standard.

Infographic: M-commerce and You!

Mobile ecommerce is the most rapidly growing trend for online store owners. This infographic will give you a good idea of the current state of m-commerce and how to use it for your online store.

We appreciate all of our readers and hope that these posts have proved and will continue to prove helpful. Check back often for more insights in 2014 and beyond!