Mobile eCommerce: 6 Strategies and Best Practices
mCommerce accounted for approximately 64.9% of global eCommerce site traffic in 2023, making it an essential tool for online merchants.
Updated November 19, 2024.
Mobile eCommerce, or mCommerce, refers to the buying and selling of goods and services through mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. It leverages mobile technology to facilitate transactions and provide a seamless shopping experience on the go.
In 2023, mCommerce accounted for approximately 64.9% of global eCommerce site traffic. As such, optimizing your website for mobile commerce can bring your store the following benefits:
- Increased customer reach: Optimizing for mCommerce allows businesses to reach a broader audience, as more people are using smartphones and tablets for shopping. This expansion can lead to increased sales and customer engagement.
- Enhanced user experience: mCommerce optimization ensures a seamless, user-friendly shopping experience on mobile devices. A smooth and efficient mobile interface can significantly boost customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Higher conversion rates: Mobile-friendly websites and apps with optimized merchandising can lead to higher conversion rates, as customers find it easier to navigate, search, and make purchases on their devices.
- Competitive advantage: Businesses that optimize for mCommerce gain a competitive edge over those that do not. Providing a superior mobile shopping experience can differentiate a brand in a crowded market, attracting more customers.
» Get ahead of mobile shopping with our retail eCommerce merchandising solutions
Meet the Expert
Arjel Vajvoda, Head of Product at Motomtech, leverages her extensive experience in customer support to craft user-focused SaaS products with innovative documentation solutions.
Mobile Commerce vs. Traditional eCommerce: Key Differences
Platform and Accessibility
mCommerce: Uses mobile-specific platforms and applications designed for ease of use on smaller screens and touch interfaces.
Traditional eCommerce: Primarily accessed via desktops and laptops, optimized for larger screens and traditional web browsing.
User Experience and Design
mCommerce: Focuses on responsive design, fast load times, and simplified navigation to enhance usability on mobile devices.
Traditional eCommerce: Often features more complex layouts and detailed graphics, suitable for larger screens and more powerful processors.
Payment Methods
mCommerce: Integrates mobile payment solutions like digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Wallet) and carrier billing, offering quick, one-touch payments.
Traditional eCommerce: Relies more on conventional payment methods like credit cards and PayPal, with less emphasis on mobile-specific payment options.
» Learn more in our guide to eCommerce homepages
1. Responsive Design
Responsive web design ensures your website adapts to various screen sizes and devices, addressing the user experience on mobile devices by providing a seamless and intuitive interface.
This is ideal for businesses with diverse customer bases accessing the site from different devices and is less suitable for businesses with limited online presence where mobile traffic is insignificant.
» Have a mobile app? Here's how to integrate search functionality
Key Features
Expected Benefits
- Improved user experience
- Higher mobile conversion rates
- Better SEO rankings
- Reduced bounce rates
Metrics to Track
- Bounce rate: Aim for less than 50%.
- Conversion rate: Target a 2-3% increase.
- Average session duration: Aim for 2 minutes or more.
Challenges
- Cost: Implementing a responsive design can be costly. Consider utilizing open-source frameworks to reduce some of the cost.
- Complexity: Effectively implementing responsive design requires thorough testing across devices, but can be simplified with automated testing tools.
» Consider testing your site quality with Google Gemini
Bad Example: Konga
Konga's images are poorly scaled and has text that doesn't adjust to the screen size, causing poor navigation and usability on mobile devices.
Good Example: Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club's layouts, images, and text change depending on the screen size and orientation, offering a seamless user experience across devices.
2. Mobile Payment Integration
Integrating mobile payment options like Apple Pay, Google Wallet, and PayPal simplifies the checkout process, enhancing convenience for mobile users.
This is perfect for eCommerce stores with significant mobile traffic and purchases, while less so for businesses with minimal mobile sales.
Key Features
Expected Benefits
- Faster checkout process for customers
- Reduced cart abandonment
- Enhanced customer satisfaction
Metrics to Track
- Cart abandonment rate: Aim for greater than 70%.
- Checkout completion rate: Aim for greater than 60%.
- Customer satisfaction scores: Aim for greater than 80%.
Challenges
- Security concerns: Ensuring data protection for all customers can be challenging. You should only use secure payment gateways like Stripe.
- Compatibility issues: Ensuring all devices support the payment methods is crucial. Conduct compatibility testing on different devices and payment options to ensure that it works for the majority of your user base.
Bad Example: Bellroy
Bellroy's mobile checkout process utilizes long, complicated checkout forms that can deter mobile users.
Good Example: Glossier
Glossier utilizes an effective, smooth, and secure payment process on PC and mobile that helps reduce bounce rate and customer dissatisfaction.
3. Mobile-Optimized Email Campaigns
Creating email campaigns designed specifically for mobile viewing can help target an audience that exclusively uses smartphones. They should include concise content, larger fonts, and touch-friendly buttons.
This is great for businesses with active email marketing strategies and is not recommended for businesses without an email subscriber base.
» Improve your email marketing with effective email segmentation
Key Features
Expected Benefits
- Higher open rates
- Increased click-through rates
- Improved customer engagement
Metrics to Track
- Open rate: Aim for greater than 20%.
- Click-through rate: Target at least 3%.
- Conversion rate: Aim for greater than 1%.
Challenges
- Design constraints: Emails offer limited space for content, so you should focus on clear, concise messages with colorful imagery to break up the text.
- Testing: Ensuring compatibility across devices can be difficult, so use email testing tools to ensure that they appear the same regardless of device.
Bad Example
This poor example of an email is empty with small fonts, hard-to-click links, unclear messaging, and awkward formatting. Other poor examples include emails that are too cluttered with text or irrelevant imaging.
Good Example: Ann Taylor
Ann Taylor's clean, mobile-friendly design showcases an easy-to-follow message with a striking image that catches your attention and a working button that takes you directly to the website.
» Haven't tried remarketing? Learn how with these email remarketing campaign ideas
4. Voice Search Optimization
Voice search is a crucial site search feature allows customers to browse your website through voice assistants like Alexa and is extremely beneficial for mobile users. Optimizing content for voice commerce involves using natural language processing and long-tail keywords to match conversational queries.
Utilizing a product search engine with voice search capabilities is best for businesses targeting tech-savvy consumers and is less important for niche markets with low voice search adoption.
» Discover the difference between product search and product discovery
Key Features
Expected Benefits
- Improved search rankings
- Increased organic traffic
- Enhanced user experience
Metrics to Track
- Voice search traffic: Aim for a 10-20% increase.
- Search engine rankings: Track improvement for voice-optimized keywords.
- User engagement: Monitor bounce rates and session duration.
» Learn more about internal search metrics
Challenges
- Keyword research: Identifying conversational phrases and covering their wide scope is challenging. Use voice search analytics tools to monitor your store, and consider keyword tools like SEMrush to ensure you're covering all the relevant keyword variations.
- Content adjustment: Rewriting existing content to allow for natural language keywords is time-consuming, so you should gradually update high-traffic pages first.
» See these best practices for site search UX
Bad Example: Target
For the most part, Target ignores conversational keywords in their voice search capabilities which can lead to missed voice search traffic and dissatisfied customers.
Good Example: VCA Canada
VCA Canada's FAQ section features headers like "How do I give a pill directly into my dog’s mouth?” This provides concise and direct answers that are sure to rank well in voice search.
» Learn more about how voice search is changing SEO
Implement Advanced Tailored Search & Discovery
Fast Simon's product search engine can handle all your site search needs, including voice and visual search, with built-in natural language processing to identify your customers' intent.
5. Fast Loading Times
Ensuring your mobile site loads quickly by optimizing images, leveraging browser caching, and minimizing code is a great way to boost customer satisfaction. Users are quick to leave websites that have slow loading times.
Fast page loading times essential for all eCommerce businesses as poor loading times affect all types of online retailers negatively.
Key Features
Expected Benefits
- Higher user satisfaction
- Reduced bounce rates
- Better search rankings
Metrics to Track
- Page load time: Aim for 2-3 seconds.
- Bounce rate: Target less than 40%.
- Conversion rate: Aim for a 2-3% increase.
Challenges
- Technical complexity: Effective voice search requires technical expertise, so you should utilize performance optimization tools to handle the heavy lifting for you.
- Ongoing maintenance: Regular updates are needed to ensure your website is always running optimally. Conduct regular periodic performance reviews from different devices.
Bad Example: Forever 21
Forever 21 suffers from poor loading times due to their unoptimized images.
6. Personalized User Experiences
Using data analytics to provide personalized content, product recommendations, and targeted promotions based on user behavior is a great way to increase customer satisfaction and conversion rates. Streamlining the shopping experience through personalization makes customers feel valued and understood.
» Here's all you need to know about eCommerce personalization strategies
This is effective for businesses with diverse product offerings, such as tech stores with different models of similar products. It's less critical for businesses with a limited product range.
» Interested in AI? Here are some benefits of AI in eCommerce personalization and using AI-based personalization
Key Features
Expected Benefits
- Increased customer loyalty
- Higher conversion rates
- Improved customer satisfaction
Metrics to Track
- Conversion rate: Aim for a 10-15% increase.
- Customer retention rate: Target greater than 70%.
- Average order value: Aim for a 10-20% increase.
Challenges
- Data privacy: Managing customer data responsibly is critical for keeping them happy and keeping yourself out of legal trouble. Implement strong data protection policies that align with standards like the GDPR.
- Technical integration: Requires robust analytics tools, so use comprehensive personalization technology like Fast Simon.
» Need some help? Here are some eCommerce personalization strategies
Bad Example: Walmart
Walmart's recommendations are generic and showcase content that doesn't cater to individual preferences.
Good Example: Gymshark
Gymshark offers personalized product recommendations based on demographics and previous browsing & shopping behavior.
Create Personalized Shopping Experiences
Use effective AI technology to craft personalized content and product recommendations.
Targeted promotions based on user behavior
Advanced data analytics for tailored recommendations
Patented AI-autocomplete suggestions
Make Mobile eCommerce Optimization Faster
Mobile eCommerce is all about convenience, and tools like voice commerce are necessary to facilitate this simplicity. By optimizing your mobile eCommerce platform for this kind of functionality, you can tap into this growing market.
Thankfully, optimizing your website for mobile shopping doesn't have to be a difficult or time-consuming process. With great tools like Fast Simon's solutions, you can start leveraging this powerful trend today.
» Learn more with these mCommerce trends