Mobile conversion rates represent the percentage of people who opted into using your mobile app/ mobile-optimized website, out of the total number of those who were offered to. This number will tell you how good your mobile campaign is and, with attention to details, what needs to be improved.
Many otherwise successful e-commerce retailers see their profits plummet when it comes to mobile users. Shopping cart abandonment rate is ridiculously high for mobile websites, and that is if you’re lucky to get people to look through the offer to begin with.
But how is this possible, when the number of mobile shoppers grows by tens of millions every year?
Source: Statista
Mobile devices have evolved far from their original purpose. If we’re being honest, calls and texts are not the primary function of smart devices for most of the population any more. A mobile device has become an extension of a modern human and serves almost every concievable purpose, from the nimble secretary to the online shopping cart.
This is why seeing a cell phone as just another medium is not enough anymore. The apps, sites and payment methods must be adjusted and reinvented for these devices exclusively. One of the most revolutionary methods for doing mobile transactions is ewallet money management, which is the topic of this article.
Improving Mobile Conversion Rates
First of all, let’s make one thing clear. Mobile commerce is taking over the e-commerce world very, very quickly. In just five years it saw a rize of almost 65%, now holding 70% of the total e-commerce. Mobile shopping is here to stay and even take over the market.
Source: Statista
The Problems
Surprisingly enough, the shopping cart abandonment is still much higher on mobile websites than for the same content viewed on the desktop computers. This is a big problem for everyone, especially small retailers and companies who are new to the transition. Why does this happen?
First of all, there is the obvious. Mobile websites are usually poorly implemented, and for a good reason. There are so many devices, sizes, browsers, and operative systems that making a decent mobile-friendly website requires a significant amount of resources and time.
Searching and navigating a mobile website, with tens or hundreds of shopping items is very tiring and frustrating. Even when the customer is stubborn enough to go through all of that and proceed to checkout, not many have the nerves to enter the entanglement of a payment process.
There is a more elegant solution. It might be a bit more costly at the beginning, but it definitely pays itself off very quickly. Apps are a much better solution for mobile devices. They are made specifically for the purpose of mobile usage and are infinitely more pleasant to look at. And, as we can see, mobile apps have a significantly lower shopping cart abandonment rate than both desktop and mobile websites.
Source: Statista
The Solutions
Mobile Apps
Retailers who transitioned from mobile websites to apps have seen a huge increase in revenue. Product views rose by 30%, items added to the shopping cart rose by 85% and overall purchases rose by 25%. Simply put, conversion rates are better through and through with mobile apps.
What makes the apps so appealing to the users is the intuitive way of navigation, because they are, after all, made for the mobile devices. A survey from 2018 showed that most customers value the convenience and speed, as well as the possibility of using one click purchases with saved e-wallets and credit cards.
Source: Statista
Digital Wallets
The beauty of digital wallets is in their simplicity and in-built security. When a transaction is made using a digital wallet, no data about the buyer is revealed. The transaction is recognized by its unique number, so no one in the process can get a hold of the user’s credit card information. It’s not even stored on the user’s phone.
The digital wallet acts as a proxy between the actual funds and the market. Most of these platforms offer an online payment method that is called a one-click-purchase, meaning that there is no need for filling out any forms and giving out any info – as long as the app allows e-wallet payment.
Some of the most popular digital wallets today are:
- Android Pay
- Apple Pay
- Samsung Pay
- Amazon Pay
- PayPal One Touch
- Visa Checkout
- Skrill
As you can see, some of them are OS-specific (although most of them experiment with crossovers and collaborations), but most of independent digital wallets are available across all platforms and are very flexible. They offer support for multiple credit and debit cards, as well as voucher payments and cryptocurrency support.
Source: Statista
Integration
Whether you’re going to build an app from scratch to suit your specific needs and aesthetic demands, or use a ready e-commerce platform, digital wallet integration is a must. If you’re using a platform, most of the hard work has already been done for you.
Depending on the type of your business and location, e-commerce platforms will help you to choose the best e-wallets for your target group. The only thing left for you to do is implement those payments.
If you want to build from scratch, it would be wise to start with a wider set of e-wallet options and then follow the metrics. Certain digital wallets might be in more demand than others, and this widely depends on your location, goods you’re selling and the age of your customers.
There are several guidelines here.
- Where are your customers? Every region has its own favourites, and you need to be sensible to this. A blanket rule for world-wide retail is PayPal. But if you know that a large portion of your sales come from China, you should include AliPay and WeChat. Russian federation customers prefer Yandex. Europe has a huge user base for Skrill, MasterPass and Visa Checkout.
- Which devices are the most popular? Look at your metrics. If a large portion of your buyers use iOS, it would be wise to include ApplePay. Same goes for Android Pay and Samsung Pay.
- What is the age span of your customers? If you’re dealing mostly with young people, including digital wallets like Venmo is a hard yes. Many people in the age range 30-50 work remotely or as freelancers and rely on services like Skrill and Payoneer. We all know that Millenials are not the most patient bunch, and will surely abandon a purchase if they don’t see their favourite payment option.
- What goods are you selling? Different merchandise draws different mentalities. If gambling is your turf, WebMoney and similar platforms which offer vouchers are a good choice since they are already popular in the community. If you sell games and digital merchandise, think about implementing e-wallets that support cryptocurrencies.
If you’re not sure where to go, talk to your customers. Everyone loves to be asked for an opinion, and you can turn this to your advantage by offering short surveys. Ask your buyers what they would love to see in your store. How you can improve their shopping experience, and which payment methods do they feel most comfortable with. This will give you a good direction for the future upgrades.
Final Word
E-commerce is available to everyone. It has made selling goods to everyone everywhere so easy… And so hard at the same time. The science and statistics behind this ever-changing market are not easy to entangle.
The mentality of an average consumer has changed a lot in the past 10 years and you must act accordingly. Learn and adapt, because the pace at which the digital world evolves is mind-blowing.
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