The m-commerce gap is a well-known and growing challenge for retailers. We all know the tremendous growth in the use of smartphones shown by the rise in % of mobile share of digital minutes which, as our mobile-smartphone stats summary shows stands at 71% in the US, 62% in Canada, 61% in the UK and higher in Latin (Mexico, 75%) and South America (Brazil, 72%) and higher still in Asia (China, 71% and Indonesia 91%).
The problem for retailers is that ecommerce conversion rates on smartphones are significantly lower than desktop. Smartphone conversion rates are at about half of conversion rates on desktop, as a rule of thumb. This is partly inevitable since some smartphone users will prefer to make the purchase on desktop for convenience when they may prefer to browse on smartphone. Yet, many retailers will still want to look at their mobile conversion rate optimization to boost conversion.
The comScore Mobile Hierarchy report has some useful insight on the reasons for not converting on smartphone and shows the scale of the m-commerce gap - 80% of sales value is still on desktop in the US although 69% of website visits are on mobile.
The reasons given give clear areas of focus which retailers can use to research and test their smartphone experiences and improve their messaging to reassure consumers.
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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