Category Archives: eCommerce Global
Mobile is Monstrous – So say the prophets.
Mobile is Monstrous, or so say the Online Sales predicting prophets. Jonathan Novotny, founder of SA innovation market-leader CloudSales, is so convinced of the “Move to Mobile” that all solutions implemented starting in 2013 will be native, mobile compatible. Paul Skeldon of Internet Retailing predicted that “more than half of consumers will buy Christmas gifts via mobile – 73% for the first time.” Now whether that benchmark will be hit or not is not relevant. What is relevant, is that South African small businesses should be looking at ways into the ecommerce foray and should not delay. “With professional packages starting from as low as R 299 per month for intermediate or even R99 per month for a starter solution, there is no excuse to sit on the side lines” says Novotny. Internet Retailing listed a number impressive results in the paragraphs below. Consumers worldwide are finally convinced by mobile commerce and are keen to use it for their seasonal purchases, with 55% of people across the globe likely or certain to buy gifts via their mobile device this Christmas, according to a global study by mobile media company BuzzCity. In the UK alone, despite never buying gifts via mobile before 47% of consumers are planning to purchase Christmas gifts via a mobile device for the first time this year. The poll also highlighted that around a third of consumers (31%) claimed that they are planning to spend over half of their overall festive budget on purchases via mobile, avoiding the traditional Christmas crush in favour of shopping from the comfort of their home or while they are on the move. Dr KF Lai, CEO of BuzzCity tells us: “These findings have given us the clearest indication to date that consumer trust in mobile shopping is higher than it’s ever been. The age of mobile commerce is finally here – and it has been a long time coming! It seems that the industry and retailers have done a good job of winning consumer confidence and trust to overcome the barriers that existed previously. This creates a very significant opportunity for advertisers and marketers wishing to reach their audiences via mobile at this time of year.” Convenience appeared to be a key benefit for those planning to shop on their mobile devices with almost three quarters of those surveyed (63%) saying they would be more likely to buy via their mobile [...]
Mobile Commerce To Boom in 2013
According to almost EVERY SOURCE IMAGINABLE, mobile usage, smart phones, and by extension, mobile commerce is growing at phenomenal rates. What this means for the average small business owner who caters to the public is: Ensure your site is mobile compatible. In other words, responsive (check out the infographic on this) and that your ecommerce site also is configured for mobile users. CloudSales, a SA ecommerce company employing disruptive innovation, is offering transparent & complete packages in line with the latest trends. (www.cloudsales.co.za) The CEO of BuzzCity said this about the “Move to Mobile: Consumer confidence in mobile shopping is at an all-time high, with the majority of shoppers planning to buy Christmas gifts on their phones – 73% of whom have not done so before. Is this global phenomenon here to stay and what are the opportunities for forward-thinking advertisers? As well as consumer trust in mobile shopping growing, around one in three customers are planning on spending over half of their festive budget via mobile, avoiding the traditional Christmas crush in favour of shopping on their own terms. In the UK (as of November 2012), smartphones account for 83% of the market. Conclusion: we cannot disregard the impact mobile is having on consumer spending trends. Retailers who do not have a mobile site really need to launch one. Now. In the year ahead, we predict more problems with platform rivalries (such as the iOS6 maps debacle) that could lead to the re-emergence of walled gardens. Companies will secure their share of consumers’ time, but those same consumers will have their overall mobile accessibility disrupted. Brands need to be aware of a backlash. Convenience will continue to be king in 2013. We already know it’s a key benefit for consumers, and last-minute shoppers are more likely to use mobile. The next step is a larger ‘screen shopping’ experience, complemented by the role of QR Codes to further blur the lines between online and high-street shopping. Emerging markets will bring new mobile products offering even more convenient solutions. Just as banking and micro-financing entered the mobile market, we believe mobile healthcare will grow by solving the problem of accessibility. We expect to see a new consumer experience including: Remote patient monitoring Remote nursing Medical records Access to healthcare information. Healthcare service providers (such as insurance companies) would do well to tailor their content strategies to suit. As in [...]
Going Mobile: 5 Keys for Selling Products on Mobile Devices
5 years ago, not everyone knew what a smartphone was and not many people owned them. You know how trendy mobile devices are now and that they will only become more common in the near future. But, what does the growth of mobile device usage mean for selling products through e-commerce? Today, I’ll help you understand the specifics that will help you realize just how important it is to make your website smart phone friendly in order to sell to the mobile device market. To begin, take a look at this picture, courtesy of eMarketer: In 2010, online sales from mobile devices accounted for just $3.5 billion – nothing to get too excited about. But, that number almost doubled in 2011, more than tripled by 2012, and by 2015, it will have increased by 8.85 times, with about $31 billion in total sales being done online through mobile devices at that point! Now, that’s a piece of pie that you want to have a part of. 2015′s Only Two Years Away – How can You Position Yourself to Get Some of the Sales? 40% of visitors to your site who have a poor experience will leave to visit a competing site. How can you make sure you make a good impression? Here are some tips to follow to make sure your site is friendly for mobile users. > Keep it simple, stupid. To maximize your site’s ability at selling products, all you have to do is to make sure you site has an easy-to-use, functional design. That’s it! Don’t make it any more complicated than is necessary. > Don’t be afraid to pay for plugins. If your e-commerce site also features a CMS like WordPress, make sure you pay for plugins that increase functionality for your users. The payment the creators of such plugins request pails in comparison to the benefits they return. > Optimize for slower connection speeds. Mobile bandwidth hasn’t caught up to hardwired bandwidth. Make sure all the images your site uses appear neat and clean, but are compressed and optimized for the fastest download time possible. > Make your site flow vertically. Most mobile users browse websites vertically. So, accommodate their use by making sure your site’s design requires no horizontal scrolling whatsoever – it’ll only frustrate the mobile crowd. > Use larger buttons. Mobile users use their fingers to click on different things on your [...]
