Why Mobile Matters
Mobile matters because people who shop online are increasingly shopping using a screen that is much smaller than a year or three years ago. They’re spending less time shopping on their desktops and a lot more time shopping from tablets and smartphones.
Now, this may sound like something you have heard in the press. You may have heard it on the evening news, and dismissed it as simply the results of some good public relations work. You may think it a claim–rather than fact. The trend of shoppers migrating from a digital shopping experience on a desk, to one on a couch or in the palm of their hand, though, is actually supported by data.
Google Analytics data from five FastPivot customers clearly shows the swing. It is “hard numbers” data about some of our clients, and the effect of mobile traffic for sites that aren’t fully responsive. The data clearly show, across different retailing verticals and varying brand strength, that online shopping is increasingly taking place using a much smaller screen.
Key Points in Our Sample
- We’re comparing site traffic in the first nine months of 2012 against the same period in 2013. To be exact, the recording periods are January 1 to October 10 each year.
- All visits are “new visitors.” Repeat visitors are not included.
- The data does not take into account conversions, ecommerce sales, or revenue figures.
Why Mobile Matters: The Envelope Please
Retailers
These are the retailing segments for each of the companies in our sample.
- Education and self-improvement
- Specialty apparel
- Medical supplements
- Household goods
- Jewelry and watches
|
% Desktop Traffic: 2012 |
% Desktop Traffic: 2013 |
% Decrease: Desktop (‘12-‘13) |
% Increase: Mobile (‘12-‘13) |
% Increase: Tablet (‘12-‘13) |
|
| 1 |
92.8 |
79.4 |
20.16 |
689 |
41 |
| 2 |
N/A |
N/A |
37.77 |
19.98 |
30.78 |
| 3 |
87.3 |
73.7 |
12.06 |
129.95 |
95.50 |
| 4 |
83.1 |
72 |
2.78 |
78.86 |
94 |
| 5 |
92.9 |
80.8 |
N/A |
67.33 |
2.25 |
Note: % of Desktop Traffic is the percentage of overall traffic coming to that site from a desktop.
Conclusions
- Desktop’s dominance is weakening.
- Change is coming very quickly; these two samples are only one year apart.
- Retailers need to plan and implement a retailing strategy for a world that is both large format and mobile.
- Why mobile matters is a statement, not a question.
Moving Forward in an Increasingly Mobile World
If you’re struggling with what your mobile retailing strategy should be, give us a call. We’ll be happy to share with you how we’ve helped other retailers.
