Imagine walking into a store that had just what you were looking for, but you couldn’t actually buy it. It’s window shopping at its worst because you have the desire to purchase something. Is that how visitors feel when they come to your mobile website? While 60 percent of online retail traffic comes from mobile, it only accounts for 16 percent of conversions. Here is how you can make mobile work for you when it comes to website conversions.
Mobile Conversions
If your eCommerce website has a low conversion rate for mobile visitors, you are not alone. In fact, you have a lot of company with that problem. Over the past year, U.S. websites have seen a 20 percent increase in mobile’s share of online sessions. And while a majority of online retail traffic comes from mobile devices, the overwhelming majority of conversions are still coming from traditional desktops.
Not only are more desktop users converting, desktop users account for a 50 percent higher average order value compared to mobile devices. While the average order value of U.S. dollars on a traditional desktop was $138.87, it was only $82.65 on a smartphone. While only accounting for 40 percent of time spent on retail websites, desktops account for 84 percent of dollars spent.
There is some good news as conversion rates on mobile have increased by 29 percent in the last year. Industry analysts expect more than half of the total revenue from eCommerce to come from mobile devices by the end of 2017, totaling nearly $169 billion in sales. And users looking at retail sites on their mobile devices are often doing research as 82 percent of smartphone users say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make in a store.
The M-Commerce Mindset
The revenue opportunities for eCommerce businesses are huge, so why the discrepancy between mobile and desktop users? Potential customers continually feel frustrated by a lackluster mobile web experience. In fact, two out of three people have experienced a bad mobile shopping experience firsthand. And those poor mobile web experiences translate into business losses.
Users don’t just abandon a website if they can’t get what they need, often they go somewhere else. 91 percent of users will leave a mobile site if it doesn’t satisfy their needs and 51 percent of smartphone users have purchased from a company or brand other than the one they intended to simply because they received a more relevant experience there.
Navigation
You know what the problem is, low conversions, but how do you fix it? Start with the homepage and guiding visitors to the right products. Screen space is at a premium on your mobile website. Maximize the screen space that you have and guide visitors to discover relevant products by displaying a scrollable sub-category carousel, personalized according to the visitor’s past behavior, purchase history, and product preferences.
If you don’t have enough data on the particular customer at hand showcase new or top selling items. Engage with your mobile visitors from the moment they land on your website and help guide them to find the products that they are most interested in.
Consistency
Over half of U.S. retail decision makers believe that retailers provide a consistent customer experience across all channels. But, only about 25 percent of U.S. shoppers feel the same way. How can you make sure that you are demonstrating omnichannel consistency? Connect user preferences for a certain category across all devices. If a user demonstrates repeated engagement or interest in chocolate cupcakes on mobile, don’t show them vanilla cupcakes on desktop. Make sure that you are showing relevant category banners when re-entering the site from desktop.
Guide users back to recently viewed products and help them rediscover items that they’ve interacted with previously. Place the items in a tab that presents users with recently viewed items upon their return to the website. Reminding them of these items will refocus them on products that they’ve already expressed interest in and can encourage them to add those products to their cart.
Prevent shopping cart abandonment
Mobile shopping cart abandonment rates are nearly 30 percent higher than on desktops. And most mobile sites don’t have a cart abandonment strategy in place. That means there no chance to nudge a visitor in hopes of encouraging them to complete their purchase.
There are steps you can take to reduce cart abandonment, starting with serving a peel notification at checkout. This notification provides visitors with an incentive to complete the order now. And if the visitor happens to be experiencing technical difficulties with their checkout, make sure to provide a drop-down notification with a direct link to call customer support.
If it isn’t already, mobile commerce must become a top priority for any revenue-driven business. It’s time that you make mobile work for you when it comes to website conversions. Companies that have already optimized their mobile web experience are growing faster than those that have not, and with mobile device use continually on the rise, businesses can’t afford to be missing out on mobile website conversions.
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