There is no denying the fact that e-commerce and m-commerce are both on the rise and will grow even further in the coming years. Businesses are jumping on the train and offering all sorts of digital commerce solutions for their customers, but sadly that is not enough. In the device-obsessed world coping with the massive information deluge, e-commerce companies are finding it hard to stand out, personalize their offerings, and beat the competition.
The whole world is becoming “mobile-friendly”. According to Mobile Age, mobile online sales will grow up to 25% of the total number in the coming year. E-commerce companies that are not capable of performing effectively on smart devices will not only lose visitors but also revenue while the ones that work well with mobiles will grow and prosper. E-commerce companies can thrive only with advanced mobile analytics. Although all of the e-commerce companies have some form of analytics in place, they might not be utilizing it effectively for the mobile users.
Here are the top ten ways e-commerce companies can benefit through mobile analytics:
Define a measurement framework exclusively for mobile platform
A recent survey by the Aberdeen Group found companies using mobile analytics saw an 11.6% increase in brand awareness while those without a mobile-specific analytics strategy had a 12.9% decrease. This clearly shows the importance of having a well-defined mobile measurement framework for your business. The behavior of mobile visitors is quite different from that of desktop visitors and hence, the analytics strategy has to be customized for mobile too.
Gauge the behavior of the mobile visitors and create appropriate targeting strategy
Mobile shopping revenue is on the rise. Retailers saw 95% increase in mobile shopping revenue during the Black Friday 2015. Businesses must study the mobile path to purchase that their visitors follow and develop strategies to make that path free of any kinks. Although apps offer a better and more engaging experience, today’s mobile users are wary of downloading apps and prefer to log on to mobile websites. E-commerce companies must identify the right events to track and measure through the right tools customized for their needs.
Optimize conversion rate for the mobile channel
If the right events are tracked, metrics and performance indicators are defined then companies can conduct various tests to tweak the elements of the mobile app or mobile website to optimize the conversion rate. There are many other techniques and best practices that can be employed to measure, test and optimize the performance and engagement rate of your mobile app or platform.
Identify ways to grow app revenue
E-commerce companies have a single agenda and that is to increase revenue. Apart from taking-in user feedback and improving the app, analytics can also play a critical role. Analytics can help you track the top revenue generators, areas that are not performing as well compared to the desktop site, revenue drivers and inhibitors, and so on. These metrics can help you optimize your mobile app/site for increased revenue generation.
Improve the usage of mobile apps
Screen flows, options, filters, search results, buttons, the number of clicks, etc., all make a big difference in how users perceive your mobile app. Improving the usage is an ongoing process and comprises of measuring several metrics, engagement rates, time on the app, visits to screens, drop-off screens, and so on. If a certain flow is defined for the app and the users did not follow that flow, then you have to identify the reasons for visitors dropping off. With all the analytics in place, you can define clearer funnels and improve usage.
Test different creative variations in the apps and mobile sites
A/B testing and MVT are of vital importance in the mobile world as the screen size is limited. Marketers have to pick only the most important elements to display in the right way as per the screen dimensions. A well laid-out site or app will increase engagement however, it is not a one-time job. Constant analytics can help in identifying options and testing them to find out what works best.
Improve the lifetime value of the mobile visitors
Lifetime value means how much a user or visitor is worth in his lifetime. This can be calculated based on the average money spent and also in terms of customer loyalty and the referrals made. By calculating lifetime value for each user, you can identify how much you can spend in developing the relationship with that user and conduct personalized promotions and targeted marketing campaigns to improve the lifetime value. Analytics will play a significant role in calculating the LTV.Measure the impact of mobile specific campaigns
Mobile app downloads are easy to count, but how would you measure the impact your mobile marketing initiatives are having in terms of incremental user engagement, visits, session duration, average basket value, and ROI. How much is mobile actually contributing to your bottom-line? Mobile campaigns need to be tracked just like desktop campaigns. The accuracy of tracking is highly important to understand the role of mobile as compared to other channels.
Ad hoc analytics for specific challenges
Is your mobile cart abandonment rate on the rise? Are users dropping out mid-way during the check-out process? Are the right products displayed for specific searches and filters? E-commerce companies are often faced with such specific issues from time to time. Mobile analytics can help in identifying the root cause of such problems and help companies in rectifying them.
Connect mobile data with other channels and get a holistic picture
The focus is shifting from the number of “visits” to the number of “visitors”. Companies are not concerned about how many devices a person uses, or how many times a person reviews your site, but how many individual visitors are there irrespective of the devices they used. To get the correct analysis, mobile data has to be merged with data from other channels to understand how a visitor behaves. Does he visit the mobile site, but make the final purchase from the desktop site? What prompted him to leave the mobile site? How is one channel having an impact on the other? Many such questions can be identified and answered by merging the analytics data.
To conclude
Some recent studies have predicted that in 2016 mobile revenue will overtake desktop revenue for e-commerce companies. All the companies are investing heavily in optimizing the mobile user experience but that can bear fruit only through well-planned and intelligent mobile analytics strategy. With a robust mobile analytics strategy in place, companies can understand exactly where the problems are happening and how the experience can be optimized for higher conversions.