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Going Mobile Optimizing eCommerce for a Complete Omnichannel Experience
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ECommerce is big business in today’s retail industry, and having a mobile-friendly component has become critical for success in today’s marketplace. Not only do mobile sites provide another portal
for consumer access, they also allow consumers and retailers to stay
connected and informed anytime, anywhere.
“eCommerce is essentially a mobile industry,” writes Neil Patel in a
recent Inc. article.1 “Shoppers are using their mobile devices to browse,
compare and learn. Buyers are using their mobile devices to convert on
a purchase.”
In April 2015, Google announced it would prioritize mobile-optimized
sites in search results on smartphones,2 further pushing mobile into
the spotlight of the overall omnichannel experience. That means while
your site may be the No. 1 result when your customer is parked at home
on their laptops and desktops, it may drop in the ranks if that same
customer is scouring the Web on his smartphone while waiting for a
dinner companion.
But not every mobile site is right for every retailer, and the additional
data that mobile provides can be overwhelming. Recognizing which
platforms and strategies are right for a specific retailer, and employing
the data to best engage with consumers, can create a wholly satisfying
omnichannel experience for both consumers and retailers alike.
Neil Patel
“Shoppers are using their mobile devices to browse, compare
and learn.”
1 http://www.inc.com/neil-patel/3-things-you-must-optimize-on-your-ecommerce-site.html2 https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/google-search-mobile-friendly-smartphones/
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vice president, product management from Kibo, a company that
specializes in unified commerce platforms. “Your mobile site has to offer
all of the filtering and functionality that the PC version would, in a form
that’s more digestible.”
However, while many consumers are using mobile as a shopping
channel, the majority are only just beginning to use it as a purchase
channel as well, says Chris Hammond, a consultant for Atlanta-based
Parker Avery Group, a consulting group specializing in integrating
customer insights and multichannel business models. While there’s a lot
of talk about reducing clicks on mobile sites, it’s important to also look at
where those clicks are being mitigated, he says.
Opting Into the Right Platform
oday’s shopper wants what they want when they want it. And
more often, consumers are accessing a retailer’s mobile site when
they can’t get to a brick-and-mortar store, or when they’re not in front
of their desktop. The decision to have a mobile platform to round out
eCommerce offerings isn’t an option anymore — but having the right
platform for mobile sites is.
For today’s mobile sites, responsive design is a requirement, as is
employing predictive analytics to provide shoppers with relevant
product information. Easy and seamless navigation of a website
between smartphone, tablet and desktop is a must, says Sam Hogin,
“Your mobile site has to offer all of the filtering and functionality that a PC version would, in a form that’s more digestible.”Sam Hogin, VP of product management at Kibo
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“A critical element in the mobile shopping journey to streamline is the
process between an item being selected and checkout,” Hammond
explains. “Nearly 70 percent of customers who abandon items do so at
this critical juncture.” So how can retailers minimize this? Offer multiple
payment options, integrate with partners to import addresses and
have the option to create an account using auto-filled fields, Hammond
suggests.
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“Even seemingly small elements of user functionality such as having
customers input their ZIP code first to remove the need for city and state
can be significant for the user experience,” he says.
More than half of customers use a mobile device as their first touchpoint
when starting in one channel and buying in another, according
to Google, says Hammond. In fact, more than 60 percent of U.S.
consumers said they go online to research a product before they visit a
store, according to “The Digitally Demanding Consumer: 2016 Consumer
Trends Report,” from Kibo.
To encourage them to follow through on the purchase via the mobile
site, retailers have to have a site that works for them. It’s not simply a
miniature version of their existing site, and thinking as such misaligns
with the way consumers are using technology, Hammond says.
“The key to embracing this difference is understanding the specific
ways your mobile shoppers are engaging with your brand,” Hammond
explains, “and providing the functionality and user experience that
supports this engagement.”
More than 60% of U.S. consumers
said they go online to research a
product before they visit a store.
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ith the increase in optimized eCommerce sites, and the ever-
growing importance of a true omnichannel experience, comes a
barrage of new data companies have never before experienced. In the
past, loyalty cards and shopper rewards programs provided interesting
bits of data that could be used for coupons and promotions, but the
wealth of data that mobile sites provides opens up new windows into
consumer engagement.
And it’s not just for consumers who are shopping from their couch —
mobile-generated data, says Parker Avery’s Hammond, is beneficial for
both standalone information and when integrated with bricks-and-mortar
stores. According to Forrester, he adds, “retailers with a brick-and-mortar
presence should take note: 75 percent of their customers will access a
cellphone while in the store.” And that move alone brings to light more
data retailers can use to enhance the shopping experience.
Data You Can Use
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“The data generated by customers using mobile apps or connected to the in-store Wi-Fi can provide insights into the customer's shopping paths and stops, purchases and showrooming.”Chris Hammond, consultant at Parker Avery Group
“The data generated by customers using mobile apps or connected
to the in-store Wi-Fi can provide insights into the customer’s shopping
paths and stops, purchases and showrooming,” says Hammond. It also
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provides insight into behaviors such as review checking, social shares
and product descriptions.
For shoppers not in or around the store, Hammond adds, a dynamic GPS
feature, such as the “Find a Store Near Me” function, supports purchase
decisions by showing nearby stores and their inventory levels, which
supports omnichannel capabilities like in-store pickup, ship-to-store
and ship-from-store. Customers benefit, saving on shipping costs, and
retailers benefit, from being more price competitive as well as gathering
data on customer location, which can inform potential expansion or
demographic cross-sections.
But with an overwhelming number of apps available today, it can be
tricky to get consumers to not only use a mobile site but continue using
it, thus creating that continuous stream of data that companies use.
Using data to engage repeat customers works well when companies
can provide personalized product recommendations, says Kibo’s Hogin.
“If you can feed shoppers content that is relevant and personalized,
instead of something that’s not, you’ll create a connection with that
consumer that drives brand loyalty and repeat purchases.”
There also has to be a connection between the mobile site and the
website. “Consumers don’t differentiate between platforms, so both
your sites must offer a seamless shopping experience, such as one-
touch purchasing options that include any promotion or credits they
"If you can feed shoppers content that is relevant
and personalized ... you'll create a connection with
that consumer that drives brand loyalty and repeat
purchases."Sam Hogin, VP of product
management at Kibo
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might have in their account,” Hogin says. “The ability for your customer
to transition seamlessly between mobile and desktop and back again is
one important way you can delight your customers.”
Hogin provides the example of Kibo customer Cost Plus World Market,
and their World Explorer loyalty program on their mobile site. The
microsite provides shoppers access to the usual information such as
transaction history and order status, but they can also see their loyalty
points balance, access coupons both in-store and online, and shop as
they normally would. Email promotions are automatically applied when
consumers click through, so there’s no need to remember a code for
discounts. With such complete integration, the company, Hogin says, has
had great and repeat success with their loyalty program.
Hammond also provides an example of how retailers can put mobile
data to work for them. Let’s say “customer data showed a significant
segment of customers, both in the city and the suburbs or traveling
between the two, pulling up a retailer’s mobile site after 5 p.m., as
they commuted from work to home,” he explains. And, the banner ad
clicks during that time show a high interest in a retailer’s new sweater
collection. Based on that information, Hammond says, retailers could
plan their next store near the suburb where a significant portion of the
customer base likely lives, and feature an ongoing “red zone” table of
key times with a similar marketing message.
Sam Hogin, VP of product management at Kibo
“Consumers don't differentiate between platforms, so both your sites must offer a seamless shopping experience.”
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t’s no secret that the millennial and Z generations have a lock
on anything revolving around web-based technology, and
eCommerce, especially mobile eCommerce, is no exception. According
to ComScore’s State of the U.S. Online Retail Economy report, one-
third of 18-to-24-year-olds (Generation Z) report that they use no other
touch point to shop than a mobile device.3 And millennials, for their part,
“remain the key age demographic for online commerce, spending more
money online in a given year than any other age group,” says an April
2015 Business Insider article. “These consumers spend around $2,000
annually on eCommerce, despite having lower incomes than older
adults.”4
Generational Divides Can Bring
Shoppers Together
I
3 https://www.comscore.com/Insights/Presentations-and-Whitepapers/2015/State-of-the-US-Online-Retail-Economy-in-Q1-20154 http://www.businessinsider.com/the-age-demographics-of-who-shops-online-and-on-mobile-2015-4
But don’t discount the Gen Xers or the baby boomers in the mobile
shopping arena. The sheer number of people who fall into these two
generations is considerable, and their incomes are, on average, higher.
Gen Xers, the Business Insider article notes, are not all that far behind
“Generational differences can be key to both future-proofing and aligning the experience with shopper expectations."Chris Hammond, consultant at Parker Avery Group
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millennials in dollars spent online, clocking in at around $1,930 annually.
What’s more, the article states, is that baby boomers and seniors are
adopting mobile commerce. “One in four mobile shoppers in the U.S. is
over the age of 55. That’s about even with their share of the overall U.S.
population,” the article states.
Recognizing and understanding the way different generations are
using mobile sites is necessary to successfully optimizing eCommerce.
“Generational differences can be key to both future-proofing and
aligning the experience with shopper expectations,” says Parker Avery’s
Chris Hammond. And having a multigenerational site — in other words, a
site that can synthesize data and then apply that information to cultivate
a better shopping experience for different groups of consumers — will
also help translate to bricks-and-mortar stores.
“Generational markers can also help shape store design, store location
and branding, using insights and triggers to match the right products to
the right locations by geography or demographics, as well as tracking
movements in living habits, such as millennials moving more to cities, to
more effectively stage inventory,” Hammond explains.
“Generational markers can also help shape store design,
store location and branding, using insights and triggers
to match the right products to the right locations by
geography or demographics..."Chris Hammond, consultant at Parker
Avery Group
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hoppers today want the complete package: They want to be able
to browse and buy whenever and wherever they may be, whether
that’s in a bricks-and-mortar store, sitting at their kitchen table or while
on the run to pick up their children from soccer practice. For retailers,
recognizing that mobile is quickly gaining traction as the touchpoint of
choice for many consumers is essential to creating a relevant mobile
and complete omnichannel experience.
“Mobile is a shopping experience focused on customer engagement
with the brand, and part of the overall shopping journey,” says
Hammond. “It’s not necessarily a singular buying experience focused on
driving a sale.”
Says Kibo’s Hogin, “You can’t ignore optimized mobile sites, and
you can’t pretend you don’t need one. Mobile shopping is a growing
eCommerce strategy that competitive retailers must embrace. To
delight and satisfy your consumers, spend time to make their shopping
experience seamless, intuitive, relevant and personalized to their needs,
no matter what device they are shopping on at the time.”
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Kibo is the strategic merger of industry leaders, MarketLive, Shopatron, and Fiverun. With a combined 40 years of innovations, we're joining forces to help retailers and branded manufacturers unify the consumer experience. Kibo is a complete omnichannel commerce platform, delivering the lowest total cost of ownership and the fastest time to market. With predictive technologies and enterprise performance, we can help you achieve increased sales. No matter the challenge, Kibo powers your success.