mobile optimised site vs app - eibdigital's mcommerce guide

7/31/2019 Mobile Optimised Site vs App - eibDIGITAL's mCommerce Guide

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Chapter 3

One o the hottest mCommerce issuesacing todays marketer is whether toinvest in native Apps, or to ocus ondelivering rst class mobile optimisedsites. Or both.

This is a critical decision, which hasno simple answer. First, lets look atthe background to taking the mobileoptimised site v App decision.

In September 2010, two years aterApps rst appeared on the screenso early adopting iPhone users, theront cover o the July 2008 WIREDscreamed:

The Web is dead.

The apocalyptic tagline that ran alongwith the article read:

Two decades ater its birth, the WorldWide Web is in decline, as simpler,sleeker services - think Apps - are lessabout the searching and more aboutthe getting.

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To a degree, the prediction has beenborne out. Apps have enjoyed ameteoric rise to prominence in theirshort lietime. By March 2012 Applereported 25 billion App downloads, withApp downloads tracking at 1 billion permonth, a number matched by its majorApp store competitor, Android Market.Apps have made a healthy contribution

to Apples revenues, generating anestimated $6 billion, which includesthe 30% Apple takes in its share o Appdownload spend, charges rom in-Apppayments, and revenue rom iAd,its in-App advertising business.

For many years, the mobile Internet ellwell short o its potential in delivering asatisactory Internet based engagement

channel or inormation hungry mobileusers. This created a vacuum or Apps togain traction and multiply, unopposed.The phenomenal App success storyhas been turbo-charged by slickmarketing by the App stores, and bythe emergence o advertiser-riendlyspecialist App companies which talkedthe right language when appealingto client and agency based creatives,

developers and C-level sta.

THE CASE FOR MOBILE SITES

We believe that the Web is ar romdead: todays smartphones are equippedwith superior HTML5 browsers that willgive the mobile web a new lease o lie.

Mobile Internet browsing is now 150%

year-on-year, and it is predicted by MaryMeeker o Morgan Stanley that accessto the Internet via mobile will overtakeInternet access via PC by the end o2014. Google and others monitoringusage data predict this milestone willoccur in late 2013.

Google estimates that only 17% obrands have optimised their sites ormobile, which shows a clear correlation

with their site analytics which showaverage mobile site bounce rates o79%. The message here is that i yousimply serve up your ull mobile siteonto customers mobile phones, they willbounce o your site immediately, andseek a competitors site which has beenmade or mobile.


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Google research reveals 61% o mobileusers are unlikely to return to a mobilesite i they have had trouble accessing it

on their phone; 40% said they would visita competitors site instead; 19% wouldhave a negative overall impression o thecompany i they are dissatised with theperormance o the site.

In a Yahoo! survey asking customers howthey preer to access website contenton mobile, 12% stated a preerenceor Apps, 33% preerred content via

the browser, and 55% expressedno preerence, as long as the brandprovided a good user experience.

This contradicts the widely held viewthat customers love Apps, and thatorganisations must invest in Apps to

satisy this preerence.There is extensive industry researchshowing which activities mobile userswould perorm most on their mobilesi sites provided them: maps, inochecking, shopping, social networkingand coupons all score highly.

Source: emarketer.com

ONLINE ACTIVITIES US MOBILE INTERNET USERS WOULD PERFORM

MORE OFTEN VIA MOBILE INTERNET IF THE DISPLAY WERE TAILORED

TO MOBILE PHONES, JAN 11 (% OF RESPONDENTS)

EMAIL

46%

LOOKING AT MAPS

38%

CHECKING INFORMATION ONLINE

38%

CHECKING THE NEWS

37%

GENERAL BROWSING

35%

SHOPPING

28%

SOCIAL NETWORKING

27%

INSTANT MESSAGING

21%

GAMING

18%

OTHER

4%

DONT KNOW

9%

I DONT HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE DISPLAY ON MY MOBILE PHONE

6%

NOT APPLICABLE

22%


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The vast majority o organisationswhich have launched mobile sites haveproduced sites which show an uncanny

similarity, the result o a screen scrapeapproach, which involves droppingexisting web content into a vanillamobile site template without opting orbackend integration. The advantageo the screen scrape approach is that itpresents a quick route to market, andavoids potential confict between PC weband mobile web developers.

However, there are signicantdisadvantages o screen scraping whencompared with the ully integratedapproach, which provides thebetter long-term solution. The maindisadvantage o using screen scrapingis that it doesnt create a dierentiatedexperience or the brand. In the lastchapter we noted that the M&S mobileoptimised site has one o the highest

satisaction mCommerce ratings, thatsin large part because the design hasbeen created to work well with mobilebrowsers. Another missed opportunityo the screen scrape approach thatwe will look at in the next chapter ispersonalisation. With integration o themobile site with customer databasesits possible to deliver tailored oers orthe individual that are well-known or

increasing engagement, conversion andaverage order value.

THE HTML5 QUESTION

HTML5 will provide some clear benetsor brands and users alike. These includebetter provision o rich media, the abilityto access and use data submitted inprevious browsing sessions, and theability to be accessed at times and inplaces o poor signal coverage.

MCOMMERCE SUCCESS STORY

CASE STUDY - FT.COM

The FT.com web App is interestingsince it shows how HTML5 may makesupport or dierent mobile OS easierin uture.

The FT.com App does a great job inexplaining the benets o non-apps.Under the heading, a better, aster Appthe FT explains these benets:

- Web browser accessNo App store download neededAutomatic enhancements - No need tovisit an App store or the latest version

- Reading ofineThe latest edition is automaticallystored or ofine access

- SpeedImproved perormance on mostconnections

- Greater range o contentIncluding video on iPhone - gets aroundthe problem o Flash players

- Use your existing accountNo additional registration required


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The Guardian recently reported thatFinancial Times passed 2m users or itsHTML5 web App 10 months ater its

launch, with mobile now driving 12% osubscriptions and 19% o trac to thenewspapers digital oering.

FT Managing Director, Rob Grimshaw,told The Guardian that switching toHTML5 wasnt just about a spat with

Apple, but was an attempt to ensure theFT could scale quickly across dierentdevices and platorms:

The origins o the web app come romthinking more broadly about our mobile strategy, and

particularly how we are going to cope with developing ornumerous dierent platorms. There are at least fve [native

mobile platorms] out there that you reasonably have tocover, and a web app is the obvious solution.

We just accelerated it because o some o the things

Apple did with their subscriptions.

Rob GrimshawManaging DirectorFT.com


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What you can expect to see in Chapter 3:

The HTML5 Question

5 Top Tips For Producing Great Mobile Sites

Predictions For App Mobile Growth

The Case For Apps

Whats The Consumer Benet For Apps?

5 Top Recommendations For Producing Greats Apps

Three Predictions For App Growth

mobile optimised site vs app - eibdigital's mcommerce guide

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