Smartphone penetration in the UK has reached 48.4% of the population, according to the European Travel Commission’s New Media Trend Watch.

Retailers were quick to take advantage of the digital lifestyle and according to IMRG more than 50% of smart phone and tablet owners are accessing retailers’ web stores and brands via mobile phone. Argos’ mobile sales rose 114% in the four months from March to June 2013, compared with the same period last year and now mobile sales account for 15% of total sales. Marks and Spencer saw a rise in digital, both online and mobile, with sales in Q1 reaching nearly 30%. Ocado claims that 28% of its checkouts now occur on mobile devices via apps or optimised websites.

Despite this apparent success of m-commerce, many retailers are still under prepared when it comes to mobile technology and as a result a lot of retailers are throwing sales away by not being mobile ready.
Here’s a brief guide on what a retailer should do in order to fully embrace m-commerce.

Introducing mobile technology

Retailers can introduce mobile technology by giving their current EPoS system the capability to sell through a mobile website and/or they can bring mobile activity in store. To do so they can choose to upgrade their entire EPoS system to one that is cloud based for example, or they can stick with their existing EPoS solution that already integrates with their back office and add an html variant of the EPoS.

When introducing mobile retailing suppliers advise to:

• Ensure all mobile transactions are completed with a secure chip and pin payment.
• Perform and record all transactions as if they were done in-store or on a desktop website.
• Make sure the solution is capable of running on any mobile device.
• If in store, enable the mobile website to link to industry standard hardware peripherals such as scanners and printers.
• Provide a means to manage infrastructure remotely.

Trends and developments:

As the rise of mobile e-commerce continues, there are several emerging areas that corporations surrounding the industry are turning their attention to:

• Alternative payments: Many corporations from banks to mobile device suppliers are providing services that focus around how consumers complete a transaction. Digital wallets are currently a major player in this area, but although they are fast and convenient, the customer has not fully adopted the service yet. Perhaps that’s just a matter of time.
• Network capacity: As confidence rises in mobile retailing, the speed at which users can access sites and services will see an increased investment from suppliers. For example, IMRG claims that it saw a huge leap in the Index in 2006 to coincide with broadband being more widely available. They say that once 4G becomes widespread retailers might expect to see improvements in online sales and conversion rates. To put this in perspective IMRG referred to how Amazon previously reported that a 100ms increase in page latency leads to a 1% drop in sales.
• Personalisation: Targeted merchandising through big data is a winner for mobile devices where space is limited. Retailers that know their customer and deliver relevant content are on track to deliver a great user experience.
• Fulfilment: The increasingly mobile nature of peoples’ lifestyles today gives providers a task to overcome in order for them to meet with the ‘anytime, anywhere’ expectation of mobile users.

In store website (in a customer present environment)

Retailers can enhance a customer’s mobile experience by adding an in store element. Giving the customer the ability to use their mobile phone in store provides more opportunity for online content. For example, QR code and barcode scanning that links to further product information and reviews is beneficial to both the customer and staff, and may well influence a sale. In store navigation via wifi, queue busting customer service or remote access to stock information, are also used as complementary shopping services. What’s more, staff can make use of mobile devices and enable retailers to extend their lines simply by carrying one on the shop floor. On the spot sales that reduce queues and avoid customers leaving empty handed, and improved product knowledge in order to provide a higher level of customer service are easily achievable.

“You can have staff armed with tablets offering colours and sizes beyond what is in stock and arranging to have that product sent to store or the person’s home the next day. It is about not letting that sale escape”, commented Martin Smethurst, retail manager EMEA at workflow consultant Wincor Nixdorf. M&S, Schuh and Apple are examples of stores that have taken this sales initiative.

He added, “Consumers are likely to be more informed about the products and the competition than the staff, because they have the internet in their hands to do the research. So you need to arm the staff so they can do the same, enabling them to build an argument as to why their store is a better bet for the purchase, or to enable some bartering around the price from an informed, real-time position.”

Retail apps

An intuitive app that guides consumers into a store and results in a transaction is every retailer’s goal. Price comparison, payment methods, virtual shopping lists, special offers and product reviews are all popular retail apps. As Gavin Masters, head of ecommerce consulting at Maginus, said, “The ability to geographically pinpoint where a customer is browsing from and tailor content for someone who is near a store, or a competitor’s stores, actively pushing content to an app for offers and vouchers, provides fantastic opportunities for contextual marketing and communications.”

For example: PayPal and Apple have launched an app together that uses PayPal’s Beacon and Local Service, and Apple’s iPhone 5S. The app allows shoppers to pay using a profile picture and their mobile; they simply check into the store using their phone and then at the point of sale they request to pay by PayPal. The cashier checks the shopper’s profile image via the store owned iPhone and the transaction is complete without any cash or payment cards being used.

Mobile website

A mobile website should offer the user a consistent purchase journey that matches the desktop offering. Getting the customer experience right is a key driver in growth.

Benjy Meyer, M&S head of new channels says, “The consumer might look at an item on their mobile on the bus to work and add it to their basket, but not buy. When they get to work and log on to their PC they expect to find that item in their basket. You need to provide a joined up journey.”

The following mobile site tips will help to make your mobile website agile and user-friendly.

• Search box: Make the search box highly visible on your mobile site; at the top of the page is best. It’s also useful to add a second box at the base of the page.

• Auto complete: Hasten and correct a user’s search by adding auto-complete to the search box.

• Relevance: When a user searches on your site. Make the search results relevant and fast and you’ll be more likely to obtain a purchase.

• Order: Following a user’s search entry list the most popular items first.

• Avoid ‘no results’: Account for users who type searches incorrectly vy providing results for misspelled and/or similar keywords.

• Links and buttons: Balance space with user ability by making links and buttons just big enough for an adult finger to touch.

• Menus: Don’t clutter up pages with unwanted menus. Place them at the bottom of a page, use drop downs or hide them when not in use.

• Concise content: The search results page needs to be succinct with small images and short descriptions. While the product page can be a little more detailed stick to a thumbnail image, product title, a brief description, price and highlight any additional information such as product ratings and discount.

• Product ratings and reviews: It’s likely shoppers will search in-store just before they buy, so include reviews in your product search results to aid customer purchase.

• Remember the fold: As with a desktop website, a mobile site has a key display area. Keep irrelevant or additional information below the ‘fold’ and searched for content at the top.

• Product availability: Show the availability of a product at local stores or provide a link so they can check. You can also add a reserve and collect option.

• Tabs and buttons: Makes use of small tabs and buttons to highlight additional information that may assist a sale, but may not always be required such as blogs, articles, videos, and other social media.

• Mobile navigation: Use concise yet clear elements in your mobile website design. Drop-down menus, simple text, familiar icons such as “+”, “-“, and “>”.

IMRG recently announced that sales via smartphones and tablets are responsible for all online growth. As this continues to accelerate it is apparent that mobile retailing is currently the best route to enhancing consumer experience. The mobile landscape is changing and infrastructure is developing to support it. Talk to an expert today about how to introduce m-commerce to your business.