By the end of 2013, more people will use mobile phones than desktop computers to browse the Internet. More than half of US mobile subscribers (54%) owned a smartphone as of June 2012, and two thirds of them belonged to the 24-35 age group, which means that these figures will only go up.
So it comes as no surprise that 41% of smartphone owners purchase using their mobile phones. Here is what they shop for: travel reservations (17%), apparel (16%), food and beverages (15%), toys and games (11%), electronics (11%), home goods (8%), sporting goods (4%), books (4%), jewelry (3%), other (8%).
This has made mobile payment transactions and m-commerce sales forecasts in the US go through the roof:
Purchases from smartphones fall into various categories: travel, clothing, restaurants, electronics…
But what’s for sure is that 79% of smartphone users turn to their phones for help while they’re shopping. 70% of shoppers use their phones while in a store, and retailers’ apps with store mode gather five times more engagement than those without it.
And just like it happens with non-optimized mobile websites, a bad mobile experience could make you lose customers. 57% of consumers will not recommend a business with a bad mobile site, and 40% will turn to the competition if this happens. So there is no doubt that an optimized mobile website is essential to a good mobile experience that will lead to returning customers. This can be better illustrated by the example of restaurants: restaurants with a good mobile website have a conversion rate of 90%, with 64% converting within the hour.
In case you’re still doubtful about the importance of mobile websites for business, here are some more statistics to help you get a grasp of the situation:
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74% of smartpohne shoppers have made a purchase following research on phone
78% of retailers plan to invest in mobile commerce this year
69% of retail executives said mobile is an important strategic initiative
80% of mobile users prefer locally relevant advertising
75% are more likely to take an action after seeing a location-specific message
27% of companies worldwide planned to implement location-based marketing in 2013.
Mobile grocery shopping
According to a study carried out by the global leader in delivering benefits to retailers and manufacturers by utilizing customer insights to drive execution, Symphony EYC, mobile commerce is one of the key factors for improving grocery shopping experience. This study focuses on the insight consumers have on mobile commerce benefits, mobile devices and the promotions offered in the corresponding establishments.
Some of the most outstanding results of this study are the trends and insights of North American consumers on the use of mobile devices in grocery shopping in supermarkets. While 88% of the respondents claim that they have never used their mobile devices for grocery shopping, 73% of them say that they would use their smartphones if their mobile apps would make it easier.
Other fields where mobile commerce could be useful are coupons or customized discounts. Mobile devices can help improving grocery shopping in several ways: product search based on current location, price comparison apps and collection and delivery options.
Mobile website order form
When creating a mobile commerce or simply a website for your business, you might need to add a ‘Form’ section. If you have a gym, for instance, you can add a ‘Form’ section were users can register, so they don’t have to queue and will therefore save time. In the case you have a mobile website for your restaurant; you can make a section for reservations.
Remember that mobile forms tend to present considerably more restrictions than desktop websites: screens are smaller, internet connections are slower; text entry is more tedious and many others. So when you decide it’s necessary to include them in order to receive input from users on smartphones and tablets, checkboxes, radio buttons, select menus and lists tend to work much better than open text fields.
