Quarantine has forced upon consumers a rapid evolution of the role of online shopping, and has accelerated the adoption of technology including mobile shopping. With consumers likely purchasing via these methods for the foreseeable future, what do retailers need to focus on? answers, Rigel Cable, director of Analytics & SEO at Astound Commerce.
Businesses are currently struggling to gradually re-open with the possibility of COVID-19 resurgences. General uncertainty on the horizon have businesses bracing for an ever-changing retail landscape. The effects of quarantine in the U.S. will have some lasting effects on behavior as consumers show mixed interest in going back to the way things were, and some behaviors will never be the same.
The quarantine forced a rapid evolution of the role of online shopping and accelerated the adoption of technology for many consumers. For some businesses, online retail represented 20 percent of sales before quarantine, and now suddenly, it represents 100 percent of the sales during stay at home. And, offline shopping levels are unlikely to go back to where they were, causing the industry to leapfrog into a higher rate of online shopping adoption.
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Similarly, adoption of mobile shopping moved ahead by light years. As families were stuck at home with more responsibilities, mobile became the preferred way to shop and research. Astound Commerce conducted an analysis Opens a new window of the peak quarantine period (Feb-Apr 2020) of more than twenty-three clients across CPG, apparel and accessories, and home, which represented more than 70 million users.
Across industries, the results are clear: mobile traffic increased by 50 percent (+33 percent for desktop), mobile new users increased by 60 percent (+36 percent for desktop), and mobile revenue increased by 90 percent (+66 percent for desktop). During quarantine, digital shoppers were using mobile devices for browsing and purchasing at rates never before seen by brands, including driving new mobile shoppers to brands for the first time. And this was accompanied by a proportionally higher increase in revenue. Suddenly, brand websites were put to the test of mobile experience performance, and, ready-or-not, consumers were the ones making the final decision if a retailer lived up to expectations.
The e-commerce industry has been evolving for a decade to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of mobile devices and online shopping. Between native apps, progressive web apps, and mobile-first responsive websites, there are differing options chosen by leading brands to ensure that shoppers have a frictionless experience. And as shoppers increased mobile device usage during quarantine, they likely visited select retailer websites for the first time, and evaluated which shopping sites they would use on their smartphones in the future.
Since mobile device usage is unlikely to drop back to the levels they were at before the quarantine, especially given varying degrees of stay at home measures, it’s imperative that retailers address mobile optimization now to prepare for the unexpected.
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There Are Five Areas That Are Most Important for Mobile Shoppers:
- Navigation: the organization of browsing paths and “hamburger†navigation
- Product finding: filtering and sifting through product listing pages (PLPs) to find the desired product
- Mobile-only features: leveraging native GPS, mobile payment, and camera to make shopping easier with “near you†features or fast checkout
- Performance: ensuring that sites are prepared with mobile-ready image formats and pages that are not too heavy for lighter processors
- Organic search optimization: ensuring that websites have search engine optimization (SEO) so mobile search users can find the site using relevant keywords
As the online shopping landscape has catapulted, retailers forward into the space of a mobile-first customer and strategies will depend on optimization for mobile devices. Shoppers have discovered new ways of shopping from home, tapping into the most convenient device they possess: their mobile phone. And retailers must see the writing on the wall to prepare for this next, swift phase of e-commerce.