Better mobile technologies, integration with complementary services, cheaper and faster data and download speeds and higher customer adoption and mobile usage rates have accelerated the market both in terms of number of transactions, and in people’s expectations on service delivery.
As an e-commerce website owner, this means you have the opportunity to leverage the above technologies to increase your revenues through the mobile version of your site.
But of course, that also means you’re facing stiffer competition, as your competitors will enjoy the same opportunity.
So, what is it that you need to look out for to ensure that you give your business the best chance of attracting and converting a customer?
A quick checklist (most of which you have heard of and should have in place by now) includes:
· Responsive design for a range of devices and browses
· Clear, bright and attractive design
· Good use of images and videos
· Easy navigation
· Integration with social media channels
· Good cyber-security protection
· Simple shopping cart and checkout functionality with multiple payment options and methods
· Detailed contact, shipping, return and terms and conditions information
The one item we’ve left off the list, as it warrants a more detailed explanation, is the need to have omnichannel integration.
What does omnichannel mean?
Let’s start with a clear definition: omnichannel in this context simply means ‘presence of the same brand and business on multiple digital platforms’, for example website, mobile version, native App, social media communication channels such as Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn and WhatsApp, and so forth.
Why is this important to consider? Well, simply put, customers are time-conscious and have high expectations when it comes to simple, seamless and personally-focused service.
In other words, they ‘want what they want when they want it, with minimum effort and heavy lifting, whilst feeling that they are being attended to at a personal level, any time of the day or night’. In real terms, this means that once a customer has created an account and logged in, they’ll want to be able to switch seamlessly between the mobile site, native App, methods to contact you if they need help, and so forth, without having to log in separately on each platform, or re-submit details on forms etc.
Sound like a challenge? It is…but not insurmountable!
Fortunately, if your mobile site has been set up properly all of these integrations should have been considered and will be in place.
Your biggest consideration here is your App – integration must be completely seamless and also offer customers additional value with specific functionality. For example, Amazon recently added a new feature that allows their customers to ‘try on’ digital versions of shoes, but only on their App.
By keeping core functionality the same across all formats of the business’s platforms but introducing new features in your App, you’re encouraging people to download the App, and recent research has indicated that conversion rates on Apps is both higher than on any other digital platform, and on the increase.
Here’s a quick checklist to ensure your integrations have been well-considered and implemented:
· Can your customers set up and log in to their account on all your platforms?
· Once they’re logged in, can they move from one to the other without having to re-enter details?
· Are there digital signposts across all your platforms pointing customers to the various versions? And is your App front and centre?
· How is your App differentiated in terms of its functionality?
· Are all your platforms customer-service focused, and goal-focused in terms of converting the sales funnel as efficiently as possible?
Find out more about seamless e-commerce platforms that deliver a great customer experience and value to your bottom line. Speak to one of the team at Realnet today. Call us on 01223 550800 or email info@realnet.co.uk.