The future of app commerce
The evolution of how we shop has seen the standard for shopping experiences migrate from the store to online. With the advancement of smartphone technology, naturally online shopping has progressed to mobile phones.
As discussed recently in “The Future of Retail 2019” by eMarketer, mobile is expected to account for 76% of mobile spending; as more people choose to shop via mobile and mobile shopping experiences improve, conversion rates steadily increase.
However, there has been a disparity between the conversion rates seen on mobile web and desktop and as more shoppers migrate to using mobile web, revenue could be lost as the percentage that convert to purchase remains below desktop.
It can be argued that the nature of the mobile web shopping experience is designed to be anonymous as every shopper sees the same content. The way we use smartphones has changed, we no longer just use phones to make calls, but we spend the majority of our time (87%) in mobile apps compared to just 13% spent on mobile websites. Mobile apps are purpose-built to make the experiences we have on smartphones personalised and fluid. Shopping apps are no different.
As reported in eMarketer’s ‘The Future of Retail 2019’;
“Michael Langguth, co-founder and COO of mobile app commerce platform Poq, believes there’s still low-hanging fruit with apps, such as user-submitted information. “The difference is it’s a departure from the web, which is inherently built to be anonymous, to an app, which is inherently built to be personalized to you.” In the same way that Uber remembers your home and other routine destinations, he said, commerce apps can commit to memory customer specifications like size, fit and shipping preferences. Removing steps can be an effective way to increase conversion, but so can streamlining transition time between steps. And recent upgrades to smartphone hardware and network speeds should make material improvements to this performance vector.”
eMarketer Inc, www.emarketer.com
Slow loading speeds are one of the biggest bugbears identified by Propeller Insights (above) but 5G networks have started to roll out in Korea and due to be available elsewhere later in 2019. Smartphone tech also continues to develop; the latest being the Samsung Galaxy Fold (despite its rocky start) and under-screen fingerprint scanners. Faster loading speeds and new app functionalities will be the catalyst for creating frictionless and engaging shopping experiences, combating many of the average consumers’ disappointments and frustrations.
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