With mobile shopping set to dominate the holiday season, but mobile buying still lagging behind mobile browsing, merchants should do their utmost to remove hurdles to purchase on smaller screens. Chief among them: mobile checkout.
The facts
Mobile buying is poised for a major breakthrough this holiday season. Last year, mobile buying accounted for 25% of online revenue — a 44% increase from 2013, according to the MarketLive Performance Index, and all indications are that 2015 will see further growth. Indeed, more than two-thirds of participants in the MarketLive/E-Tailing Group 2015 Consumer Shopping Survey had placed at least one order via a mobile device in the past year — and close to 20% had made more than 10 mobile purchases.
To improve on those numbers, though, merchants must remove significant impediments to purchase — checkout being chief among them. When asked what would spur survey participants to spend more via mobile devices, smoother checkouts and the availability of alternative payment options that circumvent checkout, such as Paypal, topped the wish list, and one-click checkout rounded out the top five.
The action item
Merchants should tweak site presentation to highlight the availability of streamlined payment options — and promote workarounds if their checkouts aren’t fully optimized.
Merchants who offer alternative payments or one-click checkout should:
- Consider a promotional email spotlighting alternative payments — with a discount. Since the majority of emails are now opened on mobile devices, promoting alternative payment usage to subscribers can spur mobile engagement and sales.
- Boost visibility before the cart and checkout. Promoting quick checkout on the mobile home page and on product pages, which may also serve as landing pages for mobile searchers, is a smart move, as it enables shoppers to focus on finding the ideal gift picks without worrying about order completion.
Those making do without quick checkout options should especially prioritize these best practices — which are, in fact, applicable to all merchants, as they demonstrate the brand’s flexibility in supporting cross-touchpoint purchasing :
- Highlight the ease and availability of wish lists and saved carts. Enabling shoppers to save items of interest so they can access them later for purchase via a computer — or offline — helps connect touchpoints seamlessly.
- Amp up abandoned cart triggered messaging. With shopping cart abandonment now becoming de rigeur, and with mobile abandonment rates still outpacing computer rates by a wide margin, follow-up emails are essential. Personalizing abandonment emails to feature the specific product under consideration gives shoppers a shortcut to resume purchasing later on another screen.
- Enable ubiquitous click-to-call and live chat. Ensure that mobile shoppers can complete transactions live in person with handy access to customer service on small screens.
- Use browser detection tools to deliver a proactive targeted message. Shoppers on mobile devices can receive custom messaging encouraging them to return, as on MarketLive merchant Brickhouse Security’s site. Shoppers who enter their email addresses receive an incentive to visit again.
Written by MarketLive Commerce Strategy Team