San Francisco (PRWEB) September 27, 2016
Mobile commerce grew 40 percent in Q1 2016, nearly 30 percent more than the overall growth of ecommerce. To help understand the trends impacting this growth and the upside opportunity for retailers, the e-tailing group, an Astound Commerce company, today releases the findings of its seventh annual Mobile Research Survey.
The three-pronged study provides an analysis of the current state of mobile commerce in the retail industry, as well as the results of a 1000-person consumer survey on mobile experiences to understand where retailers are meeting expectations, where they’re falling short and how to improve the mobile shopping experience. The report also gives an in-depth review and ranking of the mobile shopping experience via an evaluation of 50 top retailers.
Retail Mystery Shopping
The report analyzed the mobile shopping experience for the selected retailers in order to determine year-over-year improvements. Overall, retailers are implementing a “mobile first” approach to their desktop sites, and merchandising standards for the industry are beginning to emerge. What’s more, the omnichannel experience is becoming more connected and integrated to meet customer expectations. Analysis found retailers have improved the mobile shopping experience in the following key areas:
● Cross-Channel Growth: 94 percent of retailers offer the ability to save items from a mobile commerce site into another ecommerce experience. This is a direct response to the 75 percent of consumers who feel omnichannel capabilities are important.
● Omnichannel Transparency: 83 percent of retailers offer in-store product locators, which reflects the nearly 50 percent of customers who place value on this feature.
● Non-Product Content: 44 percent of retailers surveyed had Category Guides and “How-To’s” compared to only 36 percent in 2015.
Top Retail Performers
To identify the retailers providing the best mobile experiences in the industry, retailers were evaluated across 180 metrics and six top tasks consumers are likely to perform via mobile. They were also reviewed on the overall usability of the mobile experience on the home page, search results, product and shopping cart pages. The top performing retailers (listed alphabetically) are:
● Store-Based Retailers: Best Buy, Coach, L.L. Bean, REI, and Wal-Mart
● Non-Store Retailers: Clarins, eBags, and QVC
“The mobile shopping experience is constantly evolving, and retailers are responding to changing consumer preferences and overall market shifts,” said Lauren Freedman, SVP of Digital Strategy and Chief Merchant of Astound Commerce. “We’ve been able to analyze these changes over the last seven years through our annual survey and have found that while the mobile experience has matured greatly due to increased investment by retailers, there is still room for improvement to meet and exceed customer expectations.”
Consumer Survey
The report also surveyed consumers to find what components of the mobile experience are most important to the user. Findings revealed inventory transparency and cross-channel capabilities are key considerations for consumers. Additional findings indicate consumers value the following features:
● Timeliness: 80 percent of shoppers using online purchase and in-store pickup collect products on the same day as the purchase.
● Availability: 46 percent of consumers wanted the option to see availability of products in stock in a given store.
● Location: 44 percent of consumers wanted the ability to see product availability across multiple stores.
“As mobile commerce continues to grow at a rapid pace, we wanted to figure out exactly what consumers want in order to provide better solutions for retailers and companies that come to us,” said Igor Gorin, founder and CEO of Astound Commerce. “With this data in mind, we will be able to better serve our customers as they continue to develop and redefine their mobile shopping experiences.”
To view the full results of the Mobile Research Survey, visit astnd.co/2016-mobile
About Astound Commerce
Astound Commerce is an award-winning global digital commerce provider combining strategy, technology, insight and a proven methodology to deliver exceptional omnichannel experiences. Through a forward-looking, goal-oriented approach to digital solutions, Astound Commerce helps elevate online and mobile experiences and effectively transform businesses for global brands such as Adidas, L’Oreal, Under Armour, Jimmy Choo and Timbuk2. Based in San Francisco, the passionate team of more than 600 dedicated, diverse industry and technology experts has 15 years of ecommerce experience and more than 1,000 implementations under their belt to address the complex challenges, advancing technologies and indigenous marketing needs facing international markets. To learn more, visit astoundcommerce.com.
