Busting mobile-shopping
myths
What do mobile shoppers really want? Less than many retailers think.
Understanding
what matters in
mobile is increasingly critical as people become ever more wedded to
digital devices. In the United Kingdom, for instance, two out of
three adults own a smartphone, checking it an average of more than
150 times a day.And two-thirds of smartphone and tablet users say
mobile has meaningfully changed the way they shop, with more than a
third of them visiting fewer brick-and-mortar stores—a number that
only seems set to rise.
Perhaps
it’s no wonder many retailers are scrambling to invest in digital
apps, as well as other sophisticated tools and features. Yet they
should stop and ask what consumers really want. Because while the
perfect mobile strategy has yet to be devised, fresh McKinsey
research on mobile habits in the United Kingdom
suggests
it should be based on a simple principle: providing a fast, easy,
enjoyable shopping experience. Few mobile shoppers are actively
looking for “bells and whistles,” such as video, expert opinions,
or magazine-style articles—at least not yet. They want clean,
mobile-optimized sites with easy-to-read pages that load quickly,
easy-to-use shopping carts, and smooth checkouts.
Mobile myths and their implications
There’s
no doubt that additional digital functionality can help differentiate
brands and engage customers over time. Yet none of that matters
unless companies take care of the basics. Our research debunked
several myths often heard in boardrooms about what consumers value
most when it comes to mobile shopping.
Myth
#1: The app is the answer.
Many
retailers believe that a mobile app will help them attract new
customers and stay top of mind. Yet our survey respondents were twice
as likely to use mobile sites rather than apps, with only 11 percent
noticing any meaningful difference between the two platforms. Apps do
appear better at engaging the best customers than attracting new
ones: loyal customers are more than twice as likely to install an
app. However, as the number of shopping apps proliferates, many
people seem reluctant to use them: barely 30 percent of mobile
shoppers have more than two shopping apps, and only 7 percent have
more than five. And having an app doesn’t always translate into
traffic: half of those who installed an app stopped using it
entirely—whether to get content, browse products, or check for
deals—if they weren’t making regular purchases.
For
retailers seeking meaningful growth in traffic and sales, the first
priority should be a great, mobile site that’s easy to use (with a
notable exception for grocers, where our research found that apps do
matter more). After that, building an app may make sense if it
provides additional features that customers really value, such as
fuss-free price comparisons, easy-to-access saved baskets, and
delivery tracking.
Myth
#2: The difference between good and great on mobile is ‘cool’
features.
For
most of the people we surveyed, basic functionality is far more
important than novelty or dazzle. Load speed, for example, matters
about 60 percent more than having videos. Respondents said the three
most important functionalities were smooth checkout, the ease of
adding and dropping items from a basket, and site
navigation—apparently because they reduce the biggest frustrations
associated with mobile shopping. A cumbersome site is likely to cause
some visitors to leave before finalizing their purchases and
discourage them from returning.
Myth
#3: Showrooming is a show stopper.
Many
retailers fear that shoppers are “showrooming”—visiting stores
in person to see products and then making their purchases at other
stores or online at lower prices. And it’s certainly true that more
than half of smartphone owners use their phones in stores, and
two-thirds of those compare prices.
Yet
most brick-and-mortar retailers should worry less about showrooming.
Why? Because most people end up buying from the retailer eventually,
and 58 percent of them do so at brick-and-mortar stores—most of
them at the very store where they started. So, while some 56 percent
of all consumers who have made a purchase (online or offline) conduct
research online, the share of sales influenced by mobile is much
greater than sales actually made by mobile.
That
suggests that while price is important, other factors such as the
in-store experience and convenience continue to play major roles in
purchasing decisions. After all, is it really worth driving to
another store across town or waiting for a delivery to save a couple
of dollars or pounds?
Myth
#4: The main value of digitization is in driving self-service.
Digital
tools may allow some retailers to employ fewer people in some areas,
such as inventory and checkout. But we found that the right digital
tools may make other employees more valuable than ever. In fact, six
in ten mobile shoppers believe that sales assistants with digital
tools can help them find products, explain options and features,
order out-of-stock items, and so on. In fact, shoppers view
mobile-enabled sales assistants—particularly in showrooms and
large-format stores—as enhancing the shopping experience,
underlining the need for retailers to find and train motivated,
well-prepared, and well-equipped employees.
It
can be perilous to cling to these mobile myths. One specialist
retailer actually had to institute an “app amnesty” after
discovering it had spent more than a million pounds on more than 30
apps, most of which had fewer than 5,000 installs; performance
couldn’t be measured because metrics were limited or nonexistent;
and the intellectual property belonged to the app developers, not the
company.
The retailer analyzed user behavior and quickly learned that
customers didn’t value the apps, because they didn’t provide
useful functionality. It eliminated most apps and refocused on
building a responsive, commerce-focused mobile website that provided
the basic services that customers wanted, deprioritizing app
development until the site was running effectively. Besides saving
money on app development, this approach helped simplify the company’s
mobile strategy and allowed management to focus on what delivered
value for both the customer and the business.
Understanding
what customers want and need is the foundation of retailing—you
don’t stay in business long if you persist in offering products for
sale that few people buy. Companies should take the same disciplined
approach to mobile strategy. The best performers will be those that
develop a deep understanding of the decision journey that shoppers
undertake and what they really value when it comes to mobile
shopping.
http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Consumer_And_Retail/Busting_mobile_shopping_myths?cid=other-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-1412
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