Mobile leaving the desktop behind on global path to purchase: Report

A new research conducted by Criteo revealed that for the first time ever the majority of mobile transactions are being delivered by smartphones in every major global market. The Criteo study also signaled that the apps are driving a larger percentage of shoppers down the purchase funnel and converting at three times the rate of mobile web. It was also indicated by the research that marketers with the best mobile sites & apps seize a significantly larger share of mobile transactions. Other highlights include:

• Setting the trend for high mobile sales, Fashion brands are exhibiting the strongest growth in mobile transactions
• Conversions driven by Apps are three times the rate of the mobile web
• Faster & more connected than ever, the latest smartphones are pushing smartphone sales higher than on other devices.

Criteo’s H1 2016 State of Mobile Commerce Report, gives insights into consumer shopping habits as well as forecasts predictions for mobile commerce across the globe. Signaling the fact that mobile devices are beginning to dominate the commerce landscape, the report clearly explained that the retailers capitalizing on this trend will be successful at driving transactions for the shopping seasons to follow. “Mobile commerce has reached a turning point and is surpassing desktop purchasing as retailers continue to evolve their mobile shopping platforms,” said Elie Kanaan, EVP, Marketing, Criteo. “Retailers need to create a truly seamless mobile and cross-device experience and be prepared to engage with users no matter where they are along the path to purchase. Brands that master the mobile trend will have a head start on competitors and the momentum to lead the pack through the shopping seasons ahead.” The report also emphasized the fact that how crucial it has become for brands to put more focus on mobile platforms that are becoming the primary means of driving e-commerce sales. While technology improvements have made shopping easier on mobile, marketers are still facing issues in targeting consumers across every environment all along the path to purchase. The report also suggests that retailers must make use of both strong app & mobile web presences together as well as mobile targeting strategies for engaging with shoppers wherever & whenever they browse & purchase for boosting the revenue.

The Highlights of the Research:

Mobile Shopping Dominates Irrespective of whether it is mobile or desktop, the number of shoppers going online for browsing and purchasing products is consistently increasing with a higher rate of transactions captured on mobile devices than via traditional purchase paths. So, the retailers who will be optimizing their mobile shopping experience accordingly for both in-app and on mobile web, will continue to pull away from their competitors seeing strong traction from consumers. Smartphone-Focused Shoppers Consistently expanding its prominence as the go-to shopping device, the smartphone are exhibiting good sales, especially with features like fingerprint recognition that make transactions effortless. However, at the same time tablet purchasing is steadily declining. Mobile transactions are steadily increasing with more and more retailers designing the mobile-friendly sites. Every retailers now is ensuring to have a mobile-centric marketing strategy comprised of in-app and mobile web for meeting their smartphone-focused audiences:

• For the first time ever the majority of mobile transactions are being delivered by smartphones in every major global market
• The top markets ranked by mobile’s share of retail transactions, and the countries with the highest percentage of mobile-friendly sites also saw the highest conversion rates.

Sophisticated Apps Drive High Spending Savvy, insightful and useful shopping apps are being built by the top retailers for giving the consumers a seamless way to shop on mobile devices. Features like home screen presence, instant loading, offline content, push notifications, personalization and access to native functionality are making the mobile shopping experience even richer and more immersive for consumers. Brands delivering this feature-rich environment and creating a unified, consistent and relevant experience for shoppers irrespective of the device will succeed in driving retention and conversion rates:

• Retailers with a sophisticated mobile app presence saw up to 54% of their mobile transactions generated in-app in Q2 2016, an increase from 47% in 2015.
• Apps close far more deals than other online shopping channels and convert three times more shoppers than mobile web.
• For the first time, mobile apps saw higher order values than desktop and mobile web, with an average of $127 spent in-app versus $100 on desktop and $91 on mobile web.
• Leaders in mobile app maturity drive 90% more conversions than emerging retailers.