Mobile First: 5 Reasons Mobile is Driving eCommerce

Last Updated June 28, 2016

Generation X shoppers couldn’t get more savvy when using technology to shop and satisfy their hearts’ desires. They demand it all, but most especially ease of use and eye-popping style – anywhere at any time. That’s why consumers too, along with marketing masters, are insisting on mobile first. Mobile is driving eCommerce. In fact, eTail declares: “Mobile is the glue that holds together the omnichannel retail experience.”

Mobile conveys the info and visuals consumers desire exactly where they want. There’s no need to traipse down the department store’s aisles nor hunker down with the home PC to satisfy one’s appetite for the latest fantastic commodity. As the superglue of omni-channel shopping, eTail reports that mobile “enables retailers to continuously engage with consumers as they move through an increasingly non-linear sales funnel.”

Why Mobile is Driving eCommerce: 5 Data Points

1. Mobile is the starting point for window shopping and info gathering. Beginning in 2014, mobile surpassed desktops as the digital channel where shoppers spent the maximum time researching and engaging with brands.

Gian Fulgoni, “The Role of Mobile in Online Shopping and Buying,” March 2014

2. Smartphones offer a cornucopia of opportunities for in-store conversion. Inside the retail outlet, shoppers are still hunting info, considering reviews and comparing prices on their phones. That’s why retailers are latching onto mobile first solutions that deliver in-store chat and targeted email content, including promotions.

3. Mobile has broken out as a major channel for clinching the deal, jumping from 2% of digital commerce in 2010 to 13% in 2015. By 2019, mobile commerce is predicted to reach $154 billion in sales annually.

4. Mobile first offers retailers distinctive capabilities for engaging with customers and their social media to improve retention and brand loyalty.

5. The data collected from mobile searches, purchases and social media postings abets retailers in their mission to probe the customer journey. Mobile reveals the customer’s location and therefore offers a high-resolution picture of when and why they consider your brand. From there, you can optimize their brand experience by delivering personalized, contextual messages.

No wonder eTail advocates putting mobile first and declares mobile to be the superglue binding together the diverse moments in the contemporary sales funnel and, indeed, the entire customer lifecycle.