Mobile phones are becoming the benchmark channel for e-commerce. Today, 95% of French people over the age of 15 own a smartphone, and a growing proportion of online purchases are made via this medium.
Far from being a simple complement to the desktop, the mobile is profoundly redefining the uses and expectations of consumers... and the priorities of e-tailers. Fast browsing, ultra-targeted searches, personalised experiences: the mobile UX is becoming a key driver of conversion.
In this article, find out why thinking mobile first is no longer an option, but a necessity, and how to adapt your e-commerce site to these new buying behaviours.
Mobile phones have become an integral part of our lives, with 95% of the French population aged 15 and over using a smartphone. It has also become one of the main methods to make online purchases. Having long spoken of the «m-commerce» as a mere aspect of e-commerce, we are now facing a new reality: e-commerce is now conducted predominantly on the mobile phone.
The mobile is now the main focus. It has become the core of our business and the principal way for consumers to access e-commerce offerings. While most retailers continue to design their website’s UX and functionalities and then try to adapt them to mobile, we must recognize that it is crucial to think Mobile First.
The data clearly shows that almost half of all visits and purchases are made on a smartphone. How has this widespread adoption of mobile shopping influenced consumer behavior? How can you adapt your website to ever increasing mobile phone usage?
Customers spend up to 80% of website visits on mobile* ... representing almost 60% of turnover*
Browsing through their favorite fashion websites on their smartphone has become a consumer habit, a sort of tactile window shopping... leading to the checkout. The e-commerce sector with the highest mobile adoption rate is personal goods: four out of five visits are made from a smartphone and account for almost two thirds of orders placed.
Now more than ever, mobile technology must provide an efficient experience: cutting to the chase and then guiding the customer through to purchase.
Consumers are more arbitrary on the mobile than on the desktop. They may leave your site as soon as they see a notification... Limited screen space means efficiency is key, and the relevance of your offers to each user is crucial.
This arbitrariness of consumer behavior is reflected in the number of searches and the number of words typed. They are lower by 25% and 8% respectively on mobile phones compared to desktop.
Consumers are increasingly relying on search engines to find ways to buy products online efficiently. On average, our clients across all retail segments have found that more than half of their mobile sales come from the search bar. On mobile, the conversion rate from searches is three times higher than from the menu navigation. And it’s only twice as high on desktop.
The impact of the search engine on online sales performance is therefore even more important on mobile. To be successful, you must provide an experience tailored to each user and the functionality to secure the sales on this demanding device.
On average, a consumer performs 3.53 searches during a search visit via mobile phone.*
Up to 86% of turnover comes from search.*
When shopping, consumers behave in a particular way: they focus on efficiency. They want to reduce the time spent on shopping as much as possible. Therefore, they will naturally perform many short searches and place the results in the basket. This is much easier than browsing menus and then having to scroll through lists.
* Figures observed after 12 months of using our solution on the client’s site.
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