The vast majority (71%) of mobile sales take place within well-designed mobile browsers and shopping apps, according to new research.
The study, from Criteo explores shoppers’ winding path to purchase across numerous devices, browsers and apps.
A primary finding of the research reveals retailers have a greater impact on mobile devices when an engaging app and a strong mobile web presence are available.
“Today’s shoppers expect that brands and retailers will deliver a personalised shopping experience at the precise moment an interaction is relevant,” said Jonathan Opdyke, Chief Strategy Officer, Criteo. “The findings of our Global Commerce Review reaffirm the need for retailers to adopt omnichannel strategies. The research also strengthens our commitment to growing Criteo’s Commerce Marketing Ecosystem so brands and retailers can apply the massive amounts of data collected at each phase of the shopper journey—on all screens and in stores—to engage shoppers wherever and whenever it’s most impactful.”
Research Highlights:
Mobile Growth
Shoppers are constantly on-the-move, both physically and mentally—with short attention spans when online. The mobile-first shopper is dictating the digital marketing strategies brands and retailers are executing across all channels.
• In the US, mobile web usage has reached maturity while smartphone usage continues
to grow.
• The share of transactions completed on a smartphone increased by 9 percent over the third quarter of 2016 (App excluded). Tablet usage decreased slightly during the same time period, as smartphone screens continue to grow in size.
• Retail verticals that enjoyed the largest gains in mobile transaction growth compared to third quarter 2016 include sporting goods with a 45 percent growth and health/beauty with
38 percent.
• Mobile influences desktop; 30 percent of US desktop transactions are preceded by a click on a mobile device.
App Opportunity
Retailers looking to compete with industry giants can design a seamless in-app experience to remove barriers to purchase.
• Globally, advertisers who generate transactions on all environments (mobile web + in app) see more than 50 percent of transactions completed on mobile.
• In the US, advertisers see 68 percent of all sales taking place on mobile devices. In-app accounts for 71 percent of mobile transactions for retailers who generate sales on both mobile web and in-app.
Shopping Moments
Daily and hourly sales trends underscore the importance of retailers’ ability to execute campaigns on all screens, around the clock, based on their core shoppers’ behavioural patterns.
• While desktop browsing still reigns supreme during weekday working hours, smartphone and tablet browsing generates 37 percent and 46 percent more sales on Sunday, respectively.
• Similarly, in the early evening, smartphone and tablet browsing generates 35 percent and 47 percent more sales, respectively.
Combining Data
Understanding a shopper across all of their devices can unlock where they might be going based on where their journey began.
• Cross-device data lets marketers understand the winding customer journey. A total of 41 percent of post-click desktop transactions, in total, come from another device.
Combining cross-device data to better understand and target shopper intent allows marketers to capture higher-value shoppers. This is most apparent in the high tech/computing and health/beauty verticals.
Omnichannel Matters
Online and offline sales should not be evaluated in a silo. Rather, offline sales boost shopper knowledge and in turn, online results.
• Retailers that are successful in combining offline and online data are able to apply more than four times (4X) as much sales data to improve marketing efforts.
Global Commerce Review – UK findings
• The share of transactions completed on a smartphone increased by 18.3 percent over the third quarter of 2016 (App excluded), more than double the growth globally. Tablet usage decreased considerably (13.2 percent) during the same time period in comparison (1 percent), as smartphone screens continue to grow in size
• In the UK (and globally), the retail vertical that enjoyed the largest gains in mobile transaction growth compared to third quarter 2016 is health/beauty increasing from 46 percent to 58 percent this year
• Retailers in the UK that generate transactions on all environments (mobile web + in app) see 68 percent, almost a 20 percent increase on those globally, completed on mobile
o Of those transactions that occur on mobile devices almost three-quarters (63 percent) occur in-app
• While desktop browsing still reigns supreme during weekday working hours, smartphone and tablet browsing generates more sales on Sunday
o Similarly, in the early evening, smartphone and tablet browsing generates more sales
• 29% of UK desktop sales are preceded by a click on a mobile device (almost the same as the 30 percent in the US)
Study Methodology
The Global Commerce Review analysed billions of annual transactions and more than 5,200 retail businesses globally, all Criteo clients.
For a complete look at the Global Commerce Review, view the report at https://www.criteo.com/insights/Global-Commerce-Review-Q3-2017-US-EN.
View a dynamic world map that features a global view with aggregate regional data, at https://www.criteo.com/insights/global-commerce-review-map/.