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Why do retailers require a mCommerce strategy for the next gen smart customers?
Table Of Contents
1. What is mCommerce and ways to deliver its experience?
2. Why You Should Use mCommerce and What Does It Entail?
3. Trends in mobile Commerce (and how to tap into them)
3.1. Using mobile apps to shop
3.4. Voice-Search Functionality
If you’re one of the 6.4 billion smartphone users (i.e ~80% of the population), you know that you can’t do without your phone, given that it holds all your vital information, reminders, To-Dos, messaging and apps.
India has seen a sharp spike in the number of mobile internet users with the launch of Digital India and the popularity of Reliance’s Jio services. The growth of mobile wallets and other factors combine to create a consumer market that primarily uses mobile devices for day-to-day purchases.
As per data, the use of retail apps has increased over time, especially during the festive and holiday seasons. The ability to browse merchandise and make purchases while on the road allowed customers to save time while still completing high-quality online shopping over the holiday season.
Retailers don’t need to spend too much time researching the benefits of m-commerce. Without a mobile commerce strategy, a firm may suffer greatly given that 79% of smartphone users completed an online purchase within the last six months.
What is mCommerce and ways to deliver its experience?
The exchange of products and services via wireless handheld devices like smartphones and tablets is known as mobile commerce, or M-commerce. By using mobile devices instead of desktop computers, customers can access online buying platforms through m-commerce.
Businesses can conduct m-commerce activities using mobile browsers or applications.
- A website’s desktop version need to be user-friendly and visually appealing. Similarly, the mobile experience provided by the browser should take into account the fundamental customer preferences that customers have for their e-commerce experiences, such as an appealing visual layout, user-friendliness, and quick loading times.
- The creation of mobile apps is a crucial tool for businesses that prioritise a customised user experience. By creating your own mobile application, you can conduct targeted marketing campaigns to encourage interaction with your customers and use push notifications to reach your target audience.
Why You Should Use mCommerce and What Does It Entail?
Mcommerce not only expedites the client journey but also helps you get to know them better. It can employ data to provide you with a better insight into what is affecting your customers’ purchases where they once walked into a store, bought something, and left. Retailers can still learn important information about why particular products are selling despite the recent updates and cookie restrictions.
Similar to this, businesses may produce and disseminate customised content at a far finer level than ever before with an m-commerce approach. One in five customers is okay with firms using their personal information if it results in a more customised product or service. Armed with the data, businesses can examine consumer activity patterns and then send tailored content, such as offers, promotions, and/or discounts based on past purchases. Thus, contrary to what retailers believe, data sharing may not be as taboo as they assume.
Customers can browse online businesses and place their orders using cutting-edge m-commerce technologies without using laptops or desktop PCs. We can purchase courses on our preferred learning platform or order an item of new clothing while riding home in a cab using a smartphone.
Additionally, mobile commerce enables businesses to engage customers in more individualised ways. Customers receive tailored shopping experiences thanks to user-friendly push alerts, AI integrations, one-click checkouts, and a variety of payment methods, which encourages them to buy with you again.
Mobile commerce offers customers a variety of customised purchasing options as well as additional marketing channels. Such apps can go viral and leverage their consumer base much faster with mobile-only deals, discounted rates and free shipping for app users, as well as coupons and promo codes.
Trends in mobile Commerce (and how to tap into them)
- Using mobile apps to shop
Over the past two years, digital innovation in the retail sector has grown quickly, with the percentage of channel-agnostic buyers rising from 65% to 73%. Moreover, this pattern accelerated in 2020 as a result of the global pandemic. Lockdown limitations implemented globally have resulted in a 20% increase in time spent inside mobile apps for retail apps. Many businesses then relocated the services their apps provided.
In this tech savy world, mobile apps are becoming a far more major part of the channel mix for retailers, so it’s important to understand how they may help you serve your customers in new ways and grow your business. Especially during a time of social distance and unpredictability.
30% of consumers believe that the shopping experience will never be the same again when you consider the post pandemic economical recovery. The need for online shops to implement cutting-edge, feature-rich mobile app technology increases as a result. Thus, mobile app shopping is growing rapidly and presents a wide range of prospects for ecommerce businesses. Additionally, numerous studies show that mobile app users are more devoted to the company. They spend 37% more than non-app shoppers while also making 34% more purchases, doing so 33% more frequently.
- Single-click ordering
The mobile commerce market is expanding quickly, and many major companies are already involved in it to take advantage of the expanding opportunities. It is essential to provide your users with a better user experience and a smooth checkout procedure if you want to stay ahead of the competition. Modern consumers prefer simple, fast methods of shopping. Every time they wish to make a purchase, forcing your consumers to manually enter all of their information may cause them to exit the basket. Shopping cart abandonment rates on mobile websites are higher because mobile apps often provide a better checkout experience than mobile websites.
According to studies, mobile sites experience a 97% cart abandonment rate while mobile applications only experience a 20% cart abandonment rate. This is a major justification for your online store’s requirement of a mobile app.
- Location-based marketing
Location-based marketing i.e Geofencing could be quite beneficial if you are an online retailer with a physical presence. It also helps in increasing online interaction and foot traffic to your physical store. Reaching consumers in close proximity and raising brand awareness are both successful uses of location-based marketing. This tactic aids in letting users in the neighbourhood find your store that shares similar interests and proximity. Even when they plan to make an online purchase, consumers frequently look up nearby stores.
Retailers might engage with their customers, draw more people in, and foster stronger customer loyalty with the use of geofencing. By tailoring and focusing offers based on what you already know about your consumers, you can stay current and demonstrate that you have a solid grasp of their demands. Even while this is the ideal way to conduct an omnichannel campaign, you can also use more general content and incentives to draw in new clients.
The GAP clothing chain’s geofencing campaign is a prime illustration of this. In close proximity to several of their biggest locations, which also featured physical advertisements inside the shelters, they set up geofences around bus stops. People playing Words with Friends on their phones while waiting for the bus might notice a GAP coupon offer due to the popularity of the game with its clients. This led to a click-through rate of.93 (compared to the .20 industry standard). This is how geofencing can be used in conjunction with other marketing tactics to increase emphasis, such as physical advertising, and within media like games that many of your customers are already participating with.
- Voice-Search Functionality
Users of the mobile app can search for any item using voice commands thanks to the Voice search feature. It is one of the most useful features in mobile commerce, facilitating and speeding up online consumer searches. In the m-commerce business, this function is gradually becoming more prevalent. About 40% of users utilise the voice search capability, according to a report by eMarketer, 2020.
When purchasing on a mobile device, voice search is simpler and more practical than navigating. It allows you to rapidly find an item without wasting time on complex item names or crafting search terms. Therefore, the M-commerce trends’ most valuable characteristic is the one that makes online shopping simpler.
- AI-based chatbots
Customers today seek a hyper-personalized experience when they interact with a company due to rising customer expectations. Ecommerce websites need to constantly develop and enhance the shopping experience for customers because an increasing number of customers engage with them via mobile devices.
On their e-commerce websites, several firms already use chatbot technology. It’s a fantastic approach to deliver a customer-focused buying experience, and its acceptance is growing. Customers frequently require assistance when purchasing online, and because chatbots are so quick and convenient, many customers prefer them to live salespeople. Many e-commerce websites currently offer this feature. Chatbots for mobile commerce will become more and more common in the next years.
- Progressive Web Apps
With the aid of a progressive web app, consumers can “install” a website on their smartphones and utilise it like an app. PWAs use less space on mobile devices and function similarly to native apps.
Additionally, these apps provide consumers advantages including fast updates, push notifications, offline access, and quick loading times. Customers can download apps from the web and access them from the home screen of their devices. They can also browse the menu and place orders with Starbucks’ PWA even with a poor Internet connection. Customised orders, view nutrition facts, and experience content-specific animations on this responsive, quick PWA that functions serves as an added value to give the sense of a native app
- Social commerce
According to estimates, 4.62 billion individuals, or 58.4% of the world’s population, were using social media as of January 2022. Out of which only , 424 million of those users have logged on in the past 12 months. These numbers make it obvious that social media should be a part of any mCommerce strategy.
Brands have previously used social media to enhance brand awareness and generate leads. The rise of social commerce can be attributed to the fact that it is now normal for firms to use social media for both marketing and direct sales. The widespread usage and ease of conversion on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok have ramped the demand for social commerce. Facebook and Instagram now has a single click redirection feature which allows the users to go to the store by just clicking on the photo.
Why do you require an effective mobile commerce strategy?
Although mobile is being acknowledged by marketers and integrated into their digital strategies, it is not yet used to its full extent. Although the development of mobile commerce has been discussed for a while, there is no denying that individuals now naturally use their mobile devices to shop online.
While it is obvious that every e-commerce company requires a mobile-friendly website, many online retailers are still not set up to handle mobile payments or mobile-first browsing.
Making your e-commerce website mobile-friendly can completely revolutionise your online business. Shops that support mobile browsing and checkout may be able to attract more customers in emerging markets. Additionally, websites that are mobile commerce-ready gain the chance to reach clients across a wider range of devices. Making your payment gateway system more mobile-friendly and safe is simple with services like PayU.
The sector is expected to expand as the global adoption of mobile devices continues. For clients who prefer to shop online from any location, merely tapping the screen of their mobile device is the most simple and effective method of doing so.
Brands in the ideal position to deliver the best user experience and foster client loyalty are those who keep up with mCommerce developments. Implementing a well-planned mobile commerce strategy can significantly increase ROI.
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