Mobile Conversion Rate Optimisation More Important Than Ever As Sales On Smartphones Increase 96%

Mobile conversion rate optimisation is central to retail success as smartphone screens get bigger and shoppers seem to be ditching their tablets.

We’ve known for a while that the increase in smartphone screen size was having an impact on tablet usage in online shopping. We see it in our clients’ analytics data all the time. But the latest figures from industry analysts IMRG and Capgemini now show a wider trend in the market.

 

 

Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said people using their smartphones to shop continued to soar, with sales during the first quarter growing at nine times the rate of sales completed on tablet devices. Sales on smartphones were up 96 per cent, compared to just 11 per cent for tablets.

Sales on smartphones were up 96 per cent, compared to just 11 per cent for tablets  Tweet This!

Optimising for mobile conversions

From a shopping perspective, we know mobile is a very important part of the conversion journey for many users and we’ll often start by optimising the mobile experience for clients. This is especially true when a large proportion of a client’s visitors are coming to the website on a mobile device of course.

There are nearly always big improvements that can be made to the mobile experience in order to get more people through the checkout. We can get some great early wins by reducing friction on mobile, helping users get through the checkout quickly and generally making the website more usable.

 

Mobile conversion rate and the speed of your website

A typical issue we encounter is the speed at which websites load on mobile. The website owner believes their website is quick to load but they’re looking at it on a mobile device that’s connected to WiFi or 4G.

When we switch to 3G and complete site walk-throughs, we often find the site is actually quite slow to load, and this will be a representative experience for many users.

Many people will abandon their purchase with the idea they’ll come back later if the website is loading slowly.

 

The future of the tablet in online shopping

So where does the increase in smartphone screen sizes leave the tablet? Before the iPad was launched, many people questioned the space that the iPad would occupy in the market; not as useful or easy to work on as a laptop, but too big to carry around in your pocket for casual usage.

Many of those same people also bought an iPad when they came out and couldn’t live without them. But now they have a large smartphone, their beloved tablet either collects dust or has become their family’s entertainment device. Being able to shop online and browse the web fairly easily because of a larger screen and improved mobile experience from many websites means the tablet has less of a role to play.

Certain audiences will continue to use tablets and will never use smartphones to buy online, especially older audiences. So having a great website for tablets will continue to be important; but if you want to improve your website conversion rate, the sensible option is often to start with the mobile experience.

 

If you’d like us to take a look at your website’s mobile experience to see where it’s falling down, arrange a website Profit Leak Audit now. If you’d rather talk to us, call 0161 713 2434.