Exploring mobile's role in eCommerce marketing

marketingtechnews.net

In our increasingly digital world, consumers are always looking for on-the-go solutions for everyday tasks. From hailing a taxi to doing taxes, mobile solutions have quickly been on the rise at an exponential rate, and one of the quickest growing sectors of mobile technologies is eCommerce.
Given the number of shopping apps available for mobile devices, its popularity comes as little surprise but in order to better understand the extent of this eCommerce trend, we must answer the question: “How big is mobile?”
Sales from mobile commerce in American markets grew from $75bn to $104bn last year, a 38.7% increase. And this number will continue to grow, as sales are expected to hit the $350bn mark in 2016. While the United States boasts of a strong and active eCommerce scene, mobile commerce is much larger than just one market.
A study by Internet Retailer suggests that although the absolute number of users is lesser than the United States, Asian markets experienced a staggering 240% growth in their mobile commerce in 2015, which was six times the growth rate in the US, the European markets saw a growth of 71% from the previous year, and Latin American markets saw a spike rate of 60%.
The study further suggests that these growth spurts in the mobile commerce space are a result of an influx of visitors flocked to the mobile way of shopping. Mobile merchants reported 3 billion monthly visits, a jump of nearly 70%.
To stay ahead of the competition in the eCommerce market, it is imperative to address mobile consumers and build the connection in store and out.
Of these visits, 965 million were unique visitors, a figure that increased 44% from last year. Mobile commerce is expected to grow at almost three times the rate of overall eCommerce growth across all platforms.
Around 60% of American consumers own a smartphone, and half of them are opting to use that device for their purchases, resulting in 30% of all eCommerce sales coming from mobile commerce.

What does this mean?

This change in shopping habit has drastically changed how the consumer is looking to be connected with. While taking the shopping experience out of the store may seem to decrease one-on-one interaction, it actually improves it.
Over half of eCommerce app users expect cloud retailers to reach out to them with valuable personalized information via push notifications or other alerts. These notifications have a positive impact on follow-through purchases and the general shopping experience.
Online retailers report that 70% of their transactions were through their app compared to the desktop equivalent. This figure can even increase to 80% when referring to online fashion retailers.
Mobile commerce has become a worldwide phenomenon, and future eCommerce trends will have the chance to thrive in this environment. As people increasingly continue to treat their phones as an extension of themselves, mobile commerce conversion rates will only climb upwards.
In fact, over 70% of mobile users spend the majority of their time on their device in apps, which contribute to the growth of mobile commerce over other forms of eCommerce.

Suggestions for success

The success of mobile eCommerce technology worldwide should urge eCommerce companies to create big marketing plans for mobile platforms.

• The focus must be on retaining and engaging users and growing lifetime value through personalized in-app recommendations and other app-specific features
• Data will continue to play a central role in executing these personalized customer engagements
• An optimized cross-channel marketing strategy will help eCommerce marketers drive relevant new users, connect with existing ones and bring back loyal customers to their app
• Measuring the right parameters and using the right channels for user engagement will help eCommerce marketers grow their marketing effectiveness and ROI
• No marketing strategy can be perfect. It needs to evolve and improve with the ever-changing dynamics of the vertical

To stay ahead of the competition in the eCommerce market, it is imperative to address mobile consumers and build the connection in store and out.