The pace of change is accelerating and smartphone users are in the driver’s seat. To stay in the race, your business must be prepared to shift gears and go full throttle where the traffic is fast and furious. Increasingly, that means employing a mobile first mindset across the board.
Mobile Is the Future of Digital CommerceWe’ve long since reached the so-called “ mobile tipping point.” According to Google, 60 percent of shopping journeys now begin on a portable device. Here are some other stats to bring you up to speed.
- 86 percent of customers want in-store mobile offers.
- 57 percent of customers will not recommend a poorly designed mobile site.
- 88 percent of customers who discover a local business via a mobile device will visit or contact that company within 24 hours.
- Digital users spend now spend 68 percent of their time on mobile while desktop usage has shrunk to 32 percent.
Today mobile first is an imperative. But the day is fast approaching when mobile only will be a reality. In other words, we’re not talking about some new trend--we’re entering a whole new economic arena with an entirely different set of strategies and rules. If your company isn’t busy figuring these out, then it may be irrelevant before the next lap.
The Desktop Mentality Belongs In the Backseat
Consequently, it’s more important to gear your web experience to mobile users than ever before. In the past, design began with the desktop in mind and mobile took a back seat. That order needs to be reversed.Iteration is imperative when it comes to determining what clicks with mobile users. That means continuous A/B testing and the use of optimization and analytics to determine what features keep viewers engaged and which ones cause them to drop off. Your organization needs to devote resources and teams that can empirically validate how end users are engaging with your mobile apps. The opportunity for retailers is to convert the growth in mobile traffic by offering a wonderfully designed and frictionless shopping and checkout experience.
Is your company suffering from desktop only disorder? 15 years ago, the PC was the epicenter of innovation. Now, the creative breakthroughs that will transform business all revolve around mobile. Old habits are tough to break, but if your company doesn’t ditch the desktop mentality, then you’ll never adjust to the new realities of today’s marketplace and risk becoming irrelevant while your competition embraces the opportunity.
Today’s Customer Is In the Driver’s Seat -- Design Your Web Experience With Mobile Users In Mind
In particular, you’ll have to think of things from the mobile customer’s point of you. Today’s consumers expect a great UX. That means delivering a frictionless experience. That applies to the way products are discovered, the overall design of your web experience, and the checkout process.
For example, the checkout needs to be completely reformatted to include integrated payments like Apple Pay. In the future, the checkout will no longer exist. You should think more along the lines of the Uber experience. After all, with Uber you don’t check out, you just step out of the car…that’s the future of retail and it has already begun.
Takeaway
It’s easier to absorb change when you are in the driver’s seat than being overrun by it. Increasingly, digital commerce is migrating to mobile and your company’s mindset needs to follow suit. If you expect to stay in the race for customers, then be thinking about how you can harness the potential of mobile design to keep up with fast-paced users.
