M-Commerce is becoming more popular as the user experience gets better. Smartphone and telecom manufacturers are creating larger screens, along with faster Wi-Fi connections and high-definition resolution. Digital checkouts have been made easier to reach and navigate, and more men are turning to mobile to purchase online. Traditional spending trends are changing as dollars head towards mobile, and there are lots of ways you can funnel your share through your eCommerce store.
Social media is the doorway to mobile commerce
Social media provides instant information about products and allows quick purchases from within apps. It’s the place where brands come alive, and their identity is shaped and shared. Much of this social interaction happens on the mobile device we constantly rely on to keep us connected. Reaching for the phone to discover information has become a habitual part of our lives, and brands need to harness this by integrating it with social channels.
Four Sixty
Four Sixty is an app that makes your products shoppable via Instagram and integrates with all the leading eCommerce site platforms.
Facebook Shop
Facebook Shop allows you to import your ecommerce store to your Facebook page and sell products directly.
Be passionate about making mobile commerce successful across platforms, and you’ll have a big advantage over competitors.
Mobile shopping apps
Offer a mobile shopping app that customers can download in order to purchase from your store, like the hugely popular ASOS app. Alternatively, you can submit voucher codes for discount apps like Student Beans.
There are lots of coupon and voucher apps, but setting up your own will negate your sacrificing revenue. Look at what SDKs are available and build a strategy around mobile consumers.
Analytics
Analyze reports to see how your customers shop. Grow your mobile audience by tracking how users behave on the desktop and create engaging content that promotes your mobile features. Create a mobile-first ecommerce site rather than something that is purely responsive on mobile. Try these incentives to help grow your mobile business:
- Offer discount codes to mobile shoppers
- Include QR or scannable codes on products
- Allow mobile users to earn points
- Create and share mobile-specific content
- Encourage customers to create their own content and upload it via your mobile app or site
You can then use social media analytics to understand how those strategies are performing. All platforms will have some form of analytics, in addition to what you can get from Google. Twitter has even enabled analytics specifically for Twitter Moments, so users can see how their content is performing, encouraging a little healthy competition.
Use SMS marketing
Marketers have come a long way since the infamous days of text spamming. There is a lot you can do with SMS marketing for opted-in customers.
Use text to offer value and not just to sell. If a customer has purchased a ticket or booked an appointment through your site, send them a text the day before to remind them it’s coming up. Be a useful part of the customer’s mobile experience, and you’ll encourage loyalty.
Put the user in the story
UGC is taking eCommerce marketing by storm, largely due to mobile device. Your customers are taking photos and creating videos of themselves, their friends, and family — using your products. We live in a culture of uploading and sharing. The advocacy you seek is right in front of you. Encourage your audience to connect to each other on your behalf, using hashtags to link the conversation and promote your latest products and campaigns.
People are shopping on the go, using social media apps and research tools like Pinterest. Converting them whilst they’re in that phase is a must for eCommerce businesses.
Speed and security
It’s important to build an eCommerce site that delivers fast performance, safe transactions, and data encryption. Performance and safety need to be carried over to mobile too.
There are out-of-the-box eCommerce builders on the market that can shortcut the process, so find one that’s trusted. Shopify has been tested for its quality and safety and sets up SSL certificates for all stores. Depending on what eCommerce builder you want to use, there is also the option of implementing a security add-on, like that provided by Fortune3. Customers will trust the safety of your site and be more likely to complete purchases across devices.
Use new technology and don’t shy away from advances. People’s shopping habits are changing, whether the way you sell it or not. Adapt — be fresh and accommodating, stay with or ahead of competitors, or risk losing the growing mobile commerce market share.
