How to make the most of the mobile commerce revolution
Mobile commerce has exploded in the past year, with research revealing that mobile sales are expected to make up 27% of e-commerce sales in the UK in 2014. The message to retailers is clear – consumer habits are changing dramatically. Customers are seeking greater levels of control and freedom in how and when they purchase goods and mobile platforms can offer them exactly that. But how can online retailers make sure they can adapt to these market changes and meet the high expectations placed on them? Here’s my advice on now to make the most of mobile commerce:
Know your customers and personalise their experience
Knowledge is power, especially when it can increase sales. To achieve this, retailers need to ensure they not only collect data, but also manage and analyse it to draw useful insights. Knowing when, where, how and what their customer base purchases can enable businesses to reach out to their customers in more informed and relevant ways.
Online and mobile data can be used to provide personalised offers catered to an individual’s activity and interests. Targeting customers with tailored content can trigger them to pursue or complete purchases, rather than using generic offers that potentially have limited relevance to their needs or preferences.
Increase interaction with the customers
Mobile devices are about communication anywhere and everywhere. Retailers need to understand the business value of consumer interaction and use these platforms to build relationships and create proximity with their customers.
Apps in particular can provide an instantaneous connection to consumers, allowing for direct communication and informing them of offers or new products. This means that apps move beyond being simply an information channel to become an engagement tool with the customer base that circulates data and information both ways.
Simplify and accelerate the experience
The rapid increase in mobile commerce is closely linked to consumers’ growing demand for speed and convenience. Having to enter lengthy personal information every time a transaction is completed can be a major turn off for consumers on the go.
In order to successfully compete, retailers should ensure the mobile commerce experience they offer is as simple and streamlined as possible, minimising the time required to complete a purchase. In this way, retailers can tap into the key segment of consumers who buy on impulse.
However consumers are finding themselves increasingly swamped by numerous apps cramming their smartphones. To avoid getting lost in the crowd, retailers need to opt for solutions that enable the mobile shopping process to be as integrated as possible, combining mobile payment tools and mobile commerce in one offering.
With technology becoming more and more entwined in our daily lives, consumers are increasingly forgoing traditional retail channels for the flexibility of mobile commerce. Those retailers that are able to provide a strategy tailored to the needs and expectations of the mobile consumer will flourish, while those that don’t move fast enough risk being left behind.
Dan Wagner is the CEO and founder of Powa Technologies
This content has been sponsored by Xero, whose brand it displays. All content is editorially independent.
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