Mobile commerce in 2024: predictions and advice

As mobile commerce continues to reshape the retail landscape, it's crucial for businesses to adapt and optimize for mobile users. We sought insights from industry experts on the best strategies to embrace this shift. 

This blog post unveils essential tips and tactics ranging from enhancing the mobile user experience, focusing on convenience and customization, to ensuring fast and frictionless mobile site performance. Dive into the wealth of knowledge shared by these professionals and learn how to effectively cater to the growing number of mobile shoppers, ensuring your business not only keeps pace but excels in the mobile-dominated world of eCommerce.

Mobile commerce in 2024

We asked: With the ongoing rise in mobile commerce, what key strategies should businesses adopt to optimize for mobile users?

Here’s what our experts had to say: 

Find the checkout friction spots

“As a Software QA with 5 years of experience specializing in conversion rate optimization and experimentation, I have manually evaluated hundreds of online stores across countless customer touchpoints. This puts me in a unique position to pinpoint the most impactful focus area for websites when it comes to elevating user experience on various devices, especially mobile devices. Retail is still being drastically changed by mobile usage. But most purchases still take place on desktop. 

This highlights a critical issue for retailers: conversion rates are low despite the widespread use of mobile browsing. 

Companies need to implement methods designed specially to handle the demands of mobile users and checkout friction spots.”

- Reema Singh, Lead Software QA at Webtrends Optimize

Paid social drives mobile site visitors

“To optimize for mobile users, focus on: 

1. Ethical - be personal but not pushy.

2. Focus on mobile - if you're driving 75% of your traffic through paid social, remember that most people will access your site through a small screen within a social app.

3. Listen to your customers - you can't be ethical unless you know what your users value and what they find dishonest. Utilize user research to fuel growth and enjoyable online experience”

- Gintare Forshaw, Co-founder & CRO consultant at Convertex Digital

Focus on convenience and customization. 

“In my opinion, crafting excellent mobile experiences relies on two main factors: 1. Convenience and Customization

With conversion optimization insights, we can tailor user journeys specifically to smaller screens; businesses can not only meet their audience but convert at new rates. Retailers should focus efforts on customization to optimize mobile conversion and revenue. 

Here are a few ideas that can be very useful in enhancing your customer's experience on mobile devices:

• Explore and evaluate new tools and technologies. Employ data visualization techniques to present complex data in a clear and understandable format, facilitating informed decision-making.

• Collaborate closely with CRO and A/B testing: Continuously monitor industry trends and advancements in CRO and A/B testing methodologies. Explore and evaluate new tools and technologies that can enhance testing efficiency, effectiveness, and insights.

To understand your customer behavior and needs, a few following ideas you can try: 

• Use readable text with clear intrusions in a few bullet points in place of long paragraphs.

• More graphics than content

• Optimise filters and search capabilities, and make sure the navigation menu is easy to use for seamless small-screen navigation.

• Product recommendations from on-site customer behaviors.

• Click-to-call functionality seamlessly connects browsing to action.

• Customize form fields and checkout funnel pages for mobile devices; for instance, replace textboxes with buttons or drop-downs.

• Proper Inline error messages with help texts.

• Auto-fill forms and persistent carts to save on time-consuming typing.

Additionally, you can make use of the following strategies: 

• Listen to your user: It is very important to listen to your user’s customers to understand them better; feedback forms /surveys are another very powerful method. 

• Explore various payment gateways and methods: Ensure a secure and efficient payment process on mobile devices. Ensure your user feels safe.

• Prioritise user experience (UX) and accessibility: Emphasise UX testing to identify and address usability issues that hinder user engagement and conversions.

• Adopt AR capabilities: As augmented reality matures, explore shoppable solutions for immersive product visualization that reduces returns due to fit or style uncertainty. Make browsing interactive.

• AI-Enhanced Personalisation: You can go the extra of personalization with AI-driven recommendations that adapt in real-time based on user behavior. This not only enhances the shopping experience but also increases conversion rates.

• Integrate advanced AI algorithms: test different personalization strategies and track the impact on user engagement and conversions.

• Exclusive offers and Loyalty programs: Retailers can attract their users on mobile through wallet loyalty programs and exclusive offers.

These strategies address key mobile usage hurdles like distractions, typing difficulties, and visualization limitations in order to craft optimized experiences tailored specifically to smaller screens.”

- Reema Singh, Lead Software QA at Webtrends Optimize

Preview your site across devices and screen sizes

“It sounds overly-simple -- but make sure type is large enough to read and clickable elements have enough padding to safely tap. Make sure you preview your site regularly across various devices and screen resolutions to ensure every mobile visitor has a great experience.”

- Linda Bustos, Founder of Ecom Ideas

Don’t just design for desktop

“Rethink your website product pages from the ground up while reviewing your mobile UX. We're focusing too much on rearranging what the website looks on desktop, while it should be the other way around!”

- Mehdi BOUFOUS, Founder of Panoramata.co

Speed up your site 

“Make your website fast. Modern websites and ecommerce architecture have matured a lot in recent years. If you want to support mobile users, make sure your site is loading at reasonable speeds.”

-  Thomas Kimura, Founder of Brickspace Lab

Don’t underestimate CRM

“Don't underestimate CRM when it comes to mobile e-commerce. Customers can't buy from you if they don't remember you exist. Both push and emails can go a long way, especially if sent at the right time to the right person with the right recommendation. Something AI has enabled us to do in the last couple of years, and we need to make the most of it.”

- Léa Samrani, Fractional CPO

Conclusion:

The rise of mobile commerce marks a pivotal shift in the retail industry, demanding a strategic and user-centric approach to business. The advice from our experts underscores the importance of focusing on mobile-first experiences, prioritizing speed, convenience, and customization to cater to the unique needs of mobile users. Simple yet vital aspects like ensuring readability, easy navigation, and quick loading times can significantly enhance the mobile shopping experience. 

As we move forward into 2024, it's clear that optimizing for mobile is not just a trend but a necessity. By embracing these expert strategies, businesses can create engaging, efficient, and enjoyable mobile shopping experiences, positioning themselves for success in an increasingly mobile-centric market.