Mobile devices have most certainly changed the behavior of shoppers but has that shift been good for online retailers?
Qubit, a provider of marketing personalization technology, recently announced results from an analysis of 1.2 billion ecommerce journeys and it provides some valuable insights into the best way to influence consumers in the mobile channel, as well as tactics that can be employed now to ensure digital success in the future.
The survey (The Growing Influence Of Mobile Discovery On Ecommerce Revenue) revealed that "product discovery", and not the intricacies related to "mobile payments" as many have long assumed, has quickly become the key challenge that ecommerce companies can address and fix in order to unlock revenue on mobile and digital channels. The study indicated, in fact, that a focus on mobile product discovery can actually impact digital sales by up to 33 percent. That data point will not go unnoticed by those focused on revenue optimization.
Improving product discovery does not just benefit mobile conversion, it also has a mean observable impact of 19 percent on all digital sales (increasing to an average of 24 percent in the fashion sector). Qubit found that mobile-influenced sales actually increased 93 percent in 2017, compared to 2016, with some retailers receiving as many as one in three transactions as a result of mobile browsing.
Customers are clearly more engaged on mobile than on desktop computers in the discovery phase of the shopping journey. As the consumer moves through the mobile journey, however, session engagement sees a dramatic drop off. This highlights that while customers can find products on mobile, they may not be finding what they want - and therein lies the opportunity.
"Mobile is clearly providing a halo effect on multiple channels so retailers need to look at this in the context of how people discover a product catalog," said Cooke. "We're making significant investments in AI-powered product discovery for mobile because we see real uplift opportunity across a fragmented shopping journey that's only connected through a mobile device."
More "Digital" data to consider from Website Magazine's Stat Watch channel:
+ 62 Percent: Retailers are not personalizing their email messages. 62 percent, in fact, send the exact same email on the same day to the purchaser and non-purchaser; only 26 percent of all emails were unique. (Coherent Path)
+ 82.5 Percent: Over $46 billion will be spent on programmatic advertising in the US this year - nearly $10 billion more than last year - meaning 82.5 percent of all digital display ads will be bought through automated channels in 2018. (eMarketer)
+ 49 Percent: Marketers' readiness for and understanding of the General Data Protection Regulation are troubling. Onethird of marketers indicated they do not understand GDPR and nearly half (49 percent) are worried about the extra time GDPR compliance will require. (Act-On)
+ 90 Percent: 56 percent of brands have expressed an intention to personalize their marketing this year; while 89 percent agree that technology plays a key role in developing a personalized experience, 90 percent think finding the right technologies to do so is a significant challenge. (Bynder)
+ 97 Percent: Consumer dependence on reviews has increased over the past three years. 97 percent of consumers consult product reviews, while 85 percent seek out negative reviews before purchase. (PowerReviews)
+ 60 Percent: Mobile video garnered a 60.3 percent share of all video starts in the fourth quarter of 2017. Across all measured devices, viewing time for medium- and long-form content grew to over 50 percent of all content. (Ooyala)