Successful Mobile Commerce: 7 Tips for Online Shops

Mobile commerce (m-commerce) has grown rapidly in recent years. No wonder, as smartphones and tablets are becoming more and more powerful. We are always and everywhere online and can buy something immediately when it occurs to us. Mobile commerce by no means stands alone, but is always part of an effective customer journey. To benefit from this, you should also take a closer look at the mobile version of your online shop – if you are not already doing so.

In this article, we reveal 7 tips for successful mobile commerce so that your online business does not fall by the wayside.

What is Mobile Commerce?

All online transactions carried out via mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets fall under the term mobile commerce or m-commerce. The rapid development of the mobile internet with increasingly powerful technologies such as 5G has driven mobile shopping strongly in recent years. More and more people are using convenient, mobile shopping. In addition to mobile commerce, mobile banking also belongs to this area.

Why mobile commerce is so important

The high customer value of online commerce via mobile devices tips the scales here. Mobile commerce makes the shopping experience easy and convenient for users. It is geared to customer needs: shop online, pay online, done – the package just has to arrive. In today’s fast-paced world, it seems all the more important to create uncomplicated options and positive experiences with mobile commerce in this area.

It is clear: the trend is moving inexorably in the direction of mobile commerce. Those who do not make their online shop and the technologies behind it accessible for mobile transactions must expect a loss of mobile conversions in the near future. As the customer journey increasingly alternates between mobile and desktop devices, a mobile-optimised online shop also has an impact on sales for desktop purchases.

Mobile commerce is therefore not a trend, but a necessity today and in the future in order to be able to continue to exist on the market. It is important to turn the obligation into a cure, because mobile commerce offers enormous growth potential and strong opportunities to position oneself for the future.

Mobile First Approach – Indispensable for Online Shops

“Mobile First” is not just a new way of thinking in web design. In online retail, you will quickly feel positive effects with the mobile first approach:

• Mobile orders will increase strongly, as the shopping experience is optimised for mobile users
• You will reach new target groups that are increasingly on the go
• You will cover the entire customer journey, as customers often do mobile research before making a desktop purchase.
• Search engine rankings will improve as Google increasingly uses mobile search queries and web pages to compile search results.

Ultimately, all measures must be optimised so that usability on the mobile device offers the greatest added value for the customer: A simple check-out, flexible payment methods that are also suitable for on-the-go, authentication processes via smartphone or directly a dedicated app.

At the same time, online marketing also plays an important role here and must take effect as a separate strategy in mobile commerce. To name just a few examples:

• Special ads for mobile users
• Mobile-optimised exit intent popups
• Mobile coupons
• Social Media marketing

7 tips for success in Mobile Commerce

The first section illustrates why mobile commerce is so important and will play an increasingly important role. Different measures are useful for success. We now present these to you in the following tips for successful mobile commerce.

Tip 1: Responsive Design

Responsive design forms the basis for mobile commerce. The entire website, content and content must be adapted to the different display sizes in terms of design and technology. Furthermore, images should be shown in the highest resolution, the loading time should remain low and texts should be optimally readable. Dynamics must also be guaranteed. Advertising banners, for example, find a place between the page contents. In the design of mobile commerce, there is thus a lot to consider.

Tip 2: Usability

The shopping experience is one of the most important success factors in mobile commerce. Customers see a great advantage in mobile commerce above all in the reduction of time spent. This means that a high level of usability is achieved when content is limited to the essentials, everything is structured and can be clearly grasped at a glance, quick access is ensured and a simple purchase conclusion is available without long registration processes.

Tip 3: Offer Added Value

Mobile commerce can make use of the whole range of possibilities with the end devices. For example, location recognition by means of GPS can offer a sensible link between online shops and stationary trade in order to show customers the quickest way to the nearest branch. Bar or QR code recognition also facilitate the search for articles and make quick shopping possible. Furthermore, tracking functions are part of a great customer service after the order and enable an excellent use of mobile commerce.

Tip 4: Mobile Payment

Anything that saves time is important for mobile commerce, so of course payment processing. In addition to providing different payment options, the current development of innovative possibilities should also be kept in mind. In addition to the reduced effort, the functions must meet the customers’ need for security. In mobile commerce, the focus is therefore on fast authentication that complies with data protection requirements and the reduction of data entry. New technologies such as facial recognition, fingerprint sensors or iris scans are on the rise and will become an important part of mobile commerce.

Tip 5: Mobile Exit Intent Popups

A high conversion rate is also the goal in mobile commerce. Along the customer journey, different touchpoints of the customer can be found that are conducive or obstructive for the mobile sales process. The analysis with corresponding KPIs and measurement data provides information about possible weak points. A low mobile conversion rate and mobile shopping cart abandonment often have differentiated causes, differing greatly from mobile to desktop. Read more about this topic in the blog post Mobile shopping cart abandonment in online shops.

A good way to increase the mobile conversion rate and reduce shopping cart abandonment is to use personalised exit intent popups that fit the situation. Our software uses intelligent functions and automatically recognises the reasons for shopping cart abandonment. Our solution is already completely developed for mobile devices and is ideally suited for mobile commerce.

Tip 6: Social Shopping

Online channels are increasingly merging today. More and more users expect a consistent shopping experience and want to switch less and less between different channels. The social media sector, for example, now offers direct shopping functions that are booming. Therefore, a good mobile commerce strategy should also take into account buying on Facebook, Instagram and co.

Tip 7: Smarthome and M-Commerce

In the future, smarthome technologies will have a permanent place in our everyday lives. Everything will be networked with everything else, and so voice control and intelligent apps will move into our households. Ordering via Alexa and Co., controlling household appliances or regulating the room temperature while on the move via an app – all of these have been possible for a long time. The technologies also offer a lot of potential for mobile commerce. Here it is worth analysing interfaces in order to position oneself according to the possibilities and, for example, to have product suggestions played out via smart speakers that can be purchased directly.

No one who wants to interact with the market in a sustainable way will be able to avoid mobile commerce. The trend shows that users appreciate the low expenditure of time and the fact that they are not tied to a particular location and are shifting online shopping to a large extent to the smartphone or tablet. For online retailers, this means taking appropriate measures to adapt the online shop to mobile devices in a user-friendly way and to constantly develop it further.