What brands need to understand about mobile shopper buying journey

People never go to a store without a wallet. The same can be said about mobile devices. This year, for the first time, mobile traffic in e-commerce has surpassed traffic coming from desktop. Mobile has become a connection between the online and offline worlds: retail doesn’t have online or offline customers now, retail has consumers. More than two-thirds of customers are using their mobile devices inside stores. Understanding the mobile shopper buying journey has emerged as one of the crucial points in retail.

Some facts about the mobile shopper buying journey

Every year customers spend more online, including when using mobile devices. The latest research shows the following statistics:

♦ Young adults, between 18 and 34 years old, are spending more than other age groups online;

♦ 1 in every 4 buyers is over 55 years old;

♦ Online shoppers tend to live in households with higher than middle incomes and have obtained a higher education;

♦ 57% of purchases made on a mobile were made by men. Due to this, when comparing with in-store retail, men represent an important target group for mobile retail.

“Mobile is the new way of engagement with customers”

Mobile has a big influence on the decision-making process. For example, more than 46% of customers in the UK use mobile as the “primary tool in purchase decision making”.

Customers want to have access to information immediately.  

With mobile, it is easier to solve unexpected problems, as well as trying new things during breaks in the everyday routine, and pursuing big goals in a small moments. Due to this, the mobile shopper buying journey is quite different from the ordinary offline buying journey.

Mobile shopper buying journey vs Offline purchase funnel

During the buying process customers solve three types of problems: looking for answers, discovering new things and making decisions. Now clients can do all these with their mobile devices.

The mobile shopper buying journey has more of an impulsive nature than the traditional buying cycle. The traditional offline purchase funnel has 5 steps: awareness, familiarity, consideration, purchase and loyalty to the brand.

According to McKinsey research today’s typical customer decision journey is more like a circle: initial consideration, active evaluation (commit), buying, post-purchase experience and then reconsideration again. Customers need some decision trigger to commit to buy something and some interest trigger to buy more after already having an experience with a brand.

Mobile experience can be that “commit” or “interest” trigger. The possibility of conveniently using mobile devices before going to the store, and then using directly in the store, triggers the impulse to buy. People that are using their mobile devices are 57% more likely to visit a store and 51% more likely to make a purchase. And according to the same research the majority of consumers hold off their final decision until they’re in a store.

To successfully sell products online, companies have to improve the mobile shopper buying journey for their customers. Omnichannel solutions like: live streaming videos, interactive selling platforms, virtual showrooms, online chat and co-browsing are must haves for 2016.

Whisbi is the only company that integrates all of these into one universal solution, bringing the real store experience online.

Find out more about mobile e-commerce buying behavior and how Whisbi is changing the way people connect with brands and products online.

Whisbi Marketing Team

Our Marketing Team is always trying to give our readers fresh industry related content that keep the reader up to date and transfers the knowledge on how to improve the customer experience for Enterprise.