mCommerce - a mobile first approach for business development

Once - a computer, a laptop. Now - increasingly often a smartphone, tablet and other mobile devices, especially among the youngest groups of consumers. Along with the development of technology, consumer behavior is changing, which means that each year an increasing percentage of consumers is convinced to make purchases in online stores from a mobile device. Where does this situation come from? The reasons should probably be found in the speed and convenience of the transaction - after all, it is possible at any time and any place. How is mCommerce developing? Is shopping on mobile free from difficulties? And finally - what technologies support the development of this segment of eCommerce?

mCommerce - an increasingly important part of eCommerce

mCommerce is the term used to describe making shopping transactions from within mobile applications. According to estimates, its share in eCommerce sales will reach over 70% in 2021, developing dynamically during the pandemic. It is a trend characteristic, especially for the youngest groups of customers, but not bypassing those from older generations. Its growing popularity is primarily associated with extremely easy accessibility - unlimited store hours and the need to reach only for a fast-charging mobile device. It is also important not to have to leave the house or to be able to do the shopping on a trip, in a doctor's surgery queue, or while riding a streetcar. Better prices and a wider assortment are also often important.

However, it is not enough to simply have a mobile version of a website or application. Due to the growing trend, it seems even more important to take care of an intuitive interface, payment options adjusted to mobile phones, as well as advertising campaigns that will be in every aspect - theme, form or manner of implementation - suitable for mobile versions.

eCommerce 2022 - shopping channels

According to the "E-commerce in Poland 2021" report prepared by Gemius, we are most likely to make purchases from our laptops and cell phones. In the case of smartphones we have seen an increase of as much as 7 percentage points compared to 2020, followed by desktop computers, tablets and ebook readers.

From the point of view of eCommerce owners, data on problems encountered by users while shopping online on mobile phones is very important - especially when as many as 80% of consumers declared in a Gemius study that such a situation occurred to them. The most frequent obstacles cited by proponents of online shopping included inconvenient forms (38%) and failure to adjust shopping sites to mobile devices (36%). The data differentiated by age is also interesting. Those under 24 also cited a lack of apps and inconvenient payment methods as important obstacles, while for those over 50, too-small letters become an obstacle when it comes to the mobile version.

It is also worth mentioning that phone-based transactions are supported by social media, which in turn introduce social selling and live commerce solutions.

Mobile - in the hands of young people

And that's literally what we can see in every possible place - on a walk, in the subway or while going to a restaurant. Our impressions are confirmed by the data - 92% of people in the group of young people aged 15 to 24 years and 87% of consumers aged 25-35 years more often choose a smartphone than any other device to make purchases online. This rule of thumb in the context of eCommerce applies above all to people from the so-called generation Z and born after 2000, who are used to having everything they need always at hand.

How to shop conveniently from your phone?

For users using mobile devices, a user-friendly interface is very important. Thus, it is not enough to ensure responsiveness - you also need to ensure that using the site on a touch screen will be easy. Also important is the already mentioned fast loading of the page, which may be aided by compression of graphics, as well as resignation from too many fields that must be filled in the form (e.g. registration or purchase form). Simple checkout is also important on mobile phones - although it is better to resign from the typical eCommerce one-step-checkout due to the necessity of scrolling, and to divide the process into several steps which will fit entirely on a mobile screen.

Pay-by-link (fast electronic payments) via operators such as TPay, Paypal or Przelewy24.pl are the most popular payment options for consumers. BLIK payments are also becoming more and more popular, especially among the youngest, as well as One Click or biometric payments (e.g. via Apple Pay). Traditional bank transfer or cash on delivery are no longer enough to encourage consumers to make purchases. Research of Izba Gospodarki Elektronicznej indicates that as many as 40% of users resign from making the payment if they do not find solutions that suit them.

Clear icons and buttons, convenient navigation, simply structured menus, filtering with just one click and efficient transaction finalization - all this is of great importance for today's online store users!

Mobile version of a website - does it work properly?

Users want the website - both in desktop and mobile versions - to load in the shortest possible time, be marked by a user-friendly interface, ensure the content is limited to the most important information and forms, and respond to other User Experience best practices. Unfortunately, there are still a fair number of companies that forget to make sure their website is adapted for mobile display. And they're seeing the consequences - research clearly shows that 70% of people abandon interacting with a site if its mobile version features poor UX. In times when smartphones are of utmost importance during shopping - especially for young consumers - it is obligatory to think about the solution to this problem.

PWA - the answer to the mobile-first trend

Technology comes to the rescue when limitations arise - and when microservices seem more in vogue than a monolithic architecture. Progressive Web App (PWA) is a combination of web and app features. It makes your website act like a native mobile app - you can save it to your phone and open it without having to type the website address into a search engine. What's more, the application does not require downloading from Google Play or App Store - all you have to do is add your website to your phone's home screen in one step and browse at any time.

The main advantage of PWA is that it provides access to your website offline as well - it is not affected by any network problems. What's more, PWA ensures that your website looks the same on different devices, which means you don't have to worry about customizing your website for different operating systems in any way. Additionally, PWA lowers the bounce rate and improves SEO results thanks to faster loading and high responsiveness. We can't forget about push notifications, which, if designed properly, can increase the conversion rate of an online store.

At Advox, we build online stores on Magento and Shopware using PWA technology. If you are interested in this topic and want to get ahead of the upcoming eCommerce future, contact us - the sooner, the better! And if you are still hesitating, check out our case study for a wedding portal Amoreo, Magento 2 implementation with PWA for a German cosmetics company Asambeauty or delivery of a project for Kratki.com.

Mobile or desktop - which solution is better?

Classically - this is not a question that can be answered unequivocally. The research clearly shows that there are still people for whom it is more pleasant to make purchases from a laptop or desktop computer. However, one cannot be unaware of the fact that mobile Commerce is developing very dynamically - this is indicated not only by consumer trends but also by the dynamic development of technology. Currently, we can see the efforts of IT specialists to create a situation in which transactions from a cell phone will be characterized by the same comfort as in the case of an open laptop screen. mCommerce is therefore gaining more and more importance both from the consumer side, as well as retailers - as an owner of an online store you can not ignore this fact.