Mobile apps have revolutionized the way of buying and selling goods. Although they seemed to be a fad few years ago, now it’s a top trend in e-commerce and online marketing in general. The reason? A new and active consumer who searches for a tool to achieve his own aims, and doesn’t want to be a passive recipient anymore. See the scale of this phenomenon and conclusions drawn by marketers.
Is e-commerce ready for mobile?
It is estimated that USA e-commerce will increase in value from 54,6 million dollars in 2014 up to 96,3 million dollars in 2016. In the market forecast, e-Commerce tends to increase by 9-11% a year, whereas e-Commerce growth rate should be 26-32% each year. On a global scale, it is evaluated that the value of the 22 m-commerce markets will increase from 102 billion dollars to 291 billion in 2016.
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The growth is mainly generated by the consumers in the 18-34 age group (59% of mobile shoppers). In total, it is estimated that 74% of smartphone users use their phone to help with shopping. (source)
On the whole, 42% of all mobile sales generated by the leading 500 merchants came from mobile apps. (source)
E-commerce falls behind
The analysis of e-Commerce situation shows that the solutions applied by retailers don’t keep up with the increasing interest of consumers in the mobile shopping:
- 46% of e-shops don’t support responsive web design
- 30% don’t have an iOS app
- 28% don’t have an Android app. (source)
Mobile Payments
Consumers have concerns about mobile payments, but they do use it. The most popular concerns are about security (57%) and privacy (48%). Despite all those fears, customers still pay via mobile: 40% of consumers have used a mobile payment application in the past year. In comparison, while 56% of clients consider cash the most secure form of payment, only 11% have paid for something in cash in the last day.
Demography
Women use mobile apps only slightly more than men: 30 hrs 58 minutes vs. 29 hrs 32 minutes monthly. (source)
25% of users between 18-44 years old, don’t remember the last time without their smartphone.
Pictures
The average user spends about 2 hours a day using his smartphone. (source)
The usage of the built-in camera is a crucial factor, very often ignored. But 52% of consumers use their smartphones to take snaps. It’s high time to draw conclusions: encourage your clients to engage with the brand by taking pictures e.g. illustrating how they use your product. The user-generated content is a great social evidence – people convince other people that they are satisfied with your product.
Give full rein to your imagination. Evian designed an application which transforms the users’ photos to make them look like babies ( it was a part of a massive campaign Baby & Me).
Users’ Engagement in Applications
In our post about building engagement in applications by push notifications, we have mentioned that downloading of the app doesn’t entail that it would be actively used. Smartphone users are very keen on downloading apps, but it is more difficult keep a close contact with them. Up to 60% of users opt-out of push notifications. (source)
The amount of time spent with smartphones has significantly increased, and also the amount of time spent in apps, and apps used regularly. The percentage of apps used 11 or more times increased to 39% and the percent of apps used only once shrunk to 20% in 2013, improving from 22% in 2012 (source).
The Triumph of Apps
The latest research shows that mobile apps are becoming our favorite way to engage online- we prefer them more to websites, both browsed on our computer and smartphones. 85% of respondents declare such sentiment. (source)
It indicates a shift in consumer behavior: he doesn’t want to consume content passively but prefers to active participation and functionality: in contrary to the website, app DOES something, solve a problem, handles a particular task. That’s what customers want – practical tools to help them achieve their everyday goals, not more content to consume.
A new consumer who rather actively uses tools than absorbs ideas, also influences the way we design websites. They get more and more app-like: dynamic and interactive.
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