As mobile commerce heads only in one direction – up – more demand is being placed on retailers to examine the customer experience as a way to ‘stand out from the crowd’. With more and more businesses entering the world of online, shoppers have more choice available and if retailers are failing to develop an enjoyable customer experience in which shoppers can buy easily online from any device, they run the risk of losing valuable revenue and repeat business.
IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking survey discovered that British shoppers spent a massive £7.5 billion in 2012 using a mobile device, accounting for 12% of all online sales that year. However, although this growth is strong with mobile sales growing steadily at about 300% all the way through 2012, sales began to slow down by the end of the year
Chris Webster, Vice President, Consumer Products and Retail at Capgemini attempts to explain: “The slowdown of sales made on a smartphone suggests there is an issue with the customer experience retailers are offering. If retailers are to reinvigorate the level of adoption, they must recognise the difference in the mobile channels and build specific customer experiences for the smartphone.”
So how can retailers achieve a first-class mobile shopping experience?
First of all, retailers must recognise all the different channels a shopper can buy products or services from. For example, a PC, mobile phone, smartphone or tablet device can be used to visit either a retailer’s website, mobile website or mobile app. Which channels are most popular for your group of customers and which channels offer you a new attractive segment of customers?
Secondly, retailers must tailor mobile experiences so they are relevant, valuable and meets the objective of the shopper. This is why retailers must know who their customers are and how they buy. A shopper accessing a website from a mobile device may have a completely different objective to shoppers accessing a website from a PC, and retailers must tailor content to ensure it is relevant and adds value.
Thirdly, retailers must look at the different ways they can reach out to customers. Retailers sending promotions, updates, stock alerts and other customer communications find SMS text messaging an invaluable tool for communicating with shoppers as notifications are received instantly. It is imperative that retailers only send SMS to shoppers who have opted-in to receive SMS communications, otherwise they may damage their brand reputation, lose customers and ultimately ruin the customer shopping experience.
Fourthly, retailers must create a consistent mobile shopping experience. By this, shoppers should be able to complete the buying process using one or multiple channels. This could mean that shoppers receive a sales promotion by SMS to their mobile phone alerting them of discounts on selected stock bought before midnight, they then view products using a mobile website but wait to complete the sale until they can access the website from a PC and view products on a larger screen. It is therefore vital that they can ‘save’ items they like and return to later using either the same or an alternative device.
Retailers should also consider the various payment and delivery options available. It is important to remember that some shoppers are still cautious when it comes to paying online. Retailers can therefore offer to have items selected online delivered to a nearby store where customers can pay in person.
Find out how a company is already utilising mobile communications to improve the customer shopping experience Retail and Marketing say Ahoy to Mobile Communications Services
IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking survey discovered that British shoppers spent a massive £7.5 billion in 2012 using a mobile device, accounting for 12% of all online sales that year. However, although this growth is strong with mobile sales growing steadily at about 300% all the way through 2012, sales began to slow down by the end of the year
Chris Webster, Vice President, Consumer Products and Retail at Capgemini attempts to explain: “The slowdown of sales made on a smartphone suggests there is an issue with the customer experience retailers are offering. If retailers are to reinvigorate the level of adoption, they must recognise the difference in the mobile channels and build specific customer experiences for the smartphone.”
So how can retailers achieve a first-class mobile shopping experience?
First of all, retailers must recognise all the different channels a shopper can buy products or services from. For example, a PC, mobile phone, smartphone or tablet device can be used to visit either a retailer’s website, mobile website or mobile app. Which channels are most popular for your group of customers and which channels offer you a new attractive segment of customers?
Secondly, retailers must tailor mobile experiences so they are relevant, valuable and meets the objective of the shopper. This is why retailers must know who their customers are and how they buy. A shopper accessing a website from a mobile device may have a completely different objective to shoppers accessing a website from a PC, and retailers must tailor content to ensure it is relevant and adds value.
Thirdly, retailers must look at the different ways they can reach out to customers. Retailers sending promotions, updates, stock alerts and other customer communications find SMS text messaging an invaluable tool for communicating with shoppers as notifications are received instantly. It is imperative that retailers only send SMS to shoppers who have opted-in to receive SMS communications, otherwise they may damage their brand reputation, lose customers and ultimately ruin the customer shopping experience.
Fourthly, retailers must create a consistent mobile shopping experience. By this, shoppers should be able to complete the buying process using one or multiple channels. This could mean that shoppers receive a sales promotion by SMS to their mobile phone alerting them of discounts on selected stock bought before midnight, they then view products using a mobile website but wait to complete the sale until they can access the website from a PC and view products on a larger screen. It is therefore vital that they can ‘save’ items they like and return to later using either the same or an alternative device.
Retailers should also consider the various payment and delivery options available. It is important to remember that some shoppers are still cautious when it comes to paying online. Retailers can therefore offer to have items selected online delivered to a nearby store where customers can pay in person.
Find out how a company is already utilising mobile communications to improve the customer shopping experience Retail and Marketing say Ahoy to Mobile Communications Services
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