Going Mobile, and Building Conversion-Driven Results

Across all industries, mobile eCommerce has become an increasingly fundamental aspect of the buyer’s journey, and if you don’t take our word for it, Justin Smith from OuterBox pulled together these stats on 2018’s Mobile eCommerce:

• More than half of all internet traffic shopping is coming from a mobile device
• 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device in the last 6 months
• Almost 40% of all eCommerce purchases during the 2018 holiday season were made on a smartphone

Cross-device intuitive programming is imperative in the digital landscape, and creating a streamlined app experience, when done right, can attract brand loyalty and a better customer retention rate. eCommerce heavyweights Wayfair and Target have found great success in recent years, while Ikea’s sales have dipped as a result of their heavy reliance on brick-and-mortar retail.

Right now, Ikea has 4 separate apps available, but none of which actually allow users to make in-app purchases. Ikea Place, an augmented reality app that helps users visualize Ikea products within their home, is an impressive technology and creative solution for a customer’s concerns over whether a piece coordinates with their current setup. However, without the ability to make a purchase in-app, it runs the risk of losing a prospective conversion in the time it takes a user to pull up a web browser.

An intuitive digital experience is vital in driving conversions, but in order to do so, the platform must allow for outcome-driven results. 

In years past, Ikea separated itself from competitor furniture retailers by shaping the customer experience around psychographic and qualitative data – showrooms are modeled after the customer’s home, whether it be a dorm room, family home or small space. When a customer purchases a new piece of furniture, other changes usually follow suit, and the showrooms simplify the process of finding these matching items. Psychographic data also revealed that many customers have children with them, so they included a designated “day care” area. People get hungry after hours on their feet, so they included a cafeteria in every location. Ikea customized their in-store experience to solve nearly every problem their customer might face, and a digital transformation should be approached the same way: study, collect and utilize your customer data to improve the customer’s experience.

Ikea recently announced that they’re launching a new app this year – one that will allow for fast in-app purchases, an “inspiration feed” akin to Instagram’s explore page and better search and recommendation algorithms. Ikea’s COO, Leontyne Green Sykes, recently told Business Insider, “Our strategy is really around transforming to be more relevant for consumers and what they’re looking for”.

With big data constantly evolving, many companies will go through countless digital transformations before hitting the nail on the head, and Ikea’s journey proves just that. In a nutshell, it’s crucial that your consumer data is collected and utilized with a customer-focused frame of reference, and keep in mind that this customer’s journey is always changing in the digital landscape (but that’s the beauty of digital retail).

ABOUT DIGITAL RETAIL TRANSFORMATION ASSEMBLY

C-Level experts from across North America’s retail industry are coming together in Dallas in August to anticipate the highly complex digital retail environment that will develop over the next few years.

Through a cutting-edge program designed by the industry, for the industry, we will provide a fresh and up-to-date insight to help move your organization to the next level of digital leadership. A series of executive education roundtables, keynote presentations, collaborative think tanks, educational workshops, and networking sessions will offer industry-specific topics and trends to ensure your company sustains its competitive advantage.

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