Mobile commerce is now an essential component of the e-commerce business, allowing retailers to reach and convert potential buyers in the convenience of a mobile app. If your brand, too, has embraced this opportunity for growth, you know how fierce the competition is in the m-commerce category. To stand out and succeed, it is important to create memorable and positive customer experiences that help to differentiate your services, meet consumer expectations, and build long-lasting relationships with clients. How do you create such experiences? That’s what we’ll examine in this blog post.
What is m-commerce?
M-commerce (mobile commerce) refers to any transaction that happens via a smartphone, a tablet, or a wearable device. As a powerful consumer trend, m-commerce allows customers to pay for products and services from anywhere and anytime using their mobile devices.
In addition, m-commerce has contributed to the rise mobile banking and food delivery and spread the use of location-based services. Related industries, just like m-commerce, base their appeal for consumers on the hassle-free access to products and services.
The role of customer experience
Customer experience describes the perception that a consumer has of a brand. This experience begins when the customer first interacts with your brand and continues through the entire customer journey to the moment when they purchase a product or a service. Customer experience doesn’t stop there: it also involves post-purchase interactions like repairs, additions, and extra services.
Businesses that provide good customer experiences understand what people need and value. In m-commerce, a memorable customer experience determines whether you will retain customers or not.
Why does a positive customer experience matter so much? Here are three main reasons.
It boosts customer satisfaction
Customers are constantly looking for businesses that offer the best shopping experience. For instance, if a customer orders shoes from your store via a mobile app, they will be more satisfied if the entire process is seamless from when they inquire about the delivery stage.
Therefore, if you are looking to improve customer satisfaction from your m-commerce services, aim at creating a long-lasting impression on your clients from the moment they contact your business to the moment they make an order.
Happy customers tend to be more loyal to the brand. Statistics show that 60% of loyal customers purchase more often from their preferred companies because they are getting the best customer experience.
It influences repeat purchases
The customer experience you provide in your mobile e-commerce app can have an impact on the purchasing decisions. According to a 2022 survey, 94% of respondents stated that a positive customer service experience makes them more likely to purchase again.
Imagine: if your mobile app has poor navigation or the customer service is unreliable when a buyer needs an item delivered, they won’t order from your online store again.
Remember: M-commerce clients seek convenience. They want to log into your app on the go, add items to a cart and pay to complete the order. That is why the experience is so valuable in m-commerce.
Therefore, an optimized mobile site, a functional mobile app, and an efficient customer support team are prerequisites if you pursue to enhance your customer experience and gain more conversions in the long term.
It increases brand awareness
Happy and loyal customers are your company’s biggest brand ambassadors. They’ll use word of mouth to market your store to their friends, family, and colleagues if the m-commerce customer experience is positive. t. Statistics show that 82% of customers would recommend a brand based on its level of customer service; therefore, this should be a priority for your business.
For instance, when a customer finds it easy to make orders from your mobile app, they are more likely to rate it high in the app store and leave good reviews about their experience on social media platforms and review sites. This positive feedback will expose your business to more customers and bring in more orders.
How to achieve a memorable customer experience in m-commerce
If your customers are not 100% happy about their experience as they shop in your mobile store, you need proper strategies on how to turn things around. Here’s a guide:
Collect customer feedback
As more customers switch to mobile e-commerce, businesses are investing more in understanding what prompts customer behavior, how different issues affect shopping behaviors, and how this can help improve the online experience.
To get this information, you need to collect client reviews to understand their experience. In-app feedback survey tools make it possible to collect product feedback using a single-screen questionnaire while keeping customers within the mobile app. For instance, if customers make an order via the app, you can send a survey to ask how smooth the ordering process was to help you improve the app. By using in-app message surveys, you won’t have to redirect customers to other platforms to get feedback.
Take mobile customer data more seriously to derive insights. For instance, if your survey has shown that your customers use their mobile phones to transact and the web for browsing products, you can tailor the channels to the relevant consumers by ensuring that the checkout process is seamless on mobile to allow for easier transactions.
Apart from collecting reviews, you can also use live chat tools to start real-time conversations with the customers about what they like or dislike about your m-commerce services. These research methods will help you grab visitor data to improve the customer experience. For instance, if most buyers find the checkout system long, you can use the information to shorten the steps.
Personalize the user experience
You need real-time information such as browsing data, the device a customer is using, age, and their stage in the purchase cycle to personalize the services. Once you combine all this information, you can deliver targeted experiences based on specific customer needs.
With this tactic, you can give the customer what they want in the way they want it. For instance, through personalized mobile messages you can connect with shoppers on the go as they browse online or in-store. Once you’ve obtained enough behavioral data and got access to their geolocation you can send personalized messages based on previous purchases, likes, and dislikes.
To increase your m-commerce sales, you can take advantage of Pushwoosh’s personalization features to deliver relevant messages much more efficiently. Some of the features you’ll get include geo-targeted push notifications, multilingual messages, and dynamic content. Once you move past the generic messaging, you can use technology to understand consumer behavior and improve your customer experience.
Streamline the fulfillment system
For your m-commerce fulfillment services to be successful, you should streamline your inventory management and shipping process. Since the customers are using their mobile devices to shop, ensure that the process is well-refined from the order placing to the checkout stage. If there are many hiccups, users can leave the site without making the intended purchase.
Instant mobile checkout apps can help boost user experience. Ensure that consumers get the one-tap checkout on their phones to ease fulfillment. When the overall customer experience is seamless, you could get more sales and repeat purchases, which, in turn, boosts your profitability. For instance, most brands that have mobile payment options with a digital wallet like PayPal are ideal for customers because they minimize the amount of data the customer has to input. In addition, most of the information, such as address and credit card details, is saved in the cloud.
Additionally, on top of the checkout process, you need to pay attention to the post-purchase experience. Customers will return products if they are not satisfied or if they receive the wrong order. To provide a memorable customer experience, you can incentivize customers to return products much faster to boost your active stock. Alternatively, you can assign some drop-off points instead of making customers print shipping labels.
Keep mobile experiences consistent with the web
Your mobile app or site needs to be consistent with your websites and other platforms. Customers get frustrated when they switch from a website to a mobile app that is hard to navigate or has a complicated interface. It's essential to have a similar interface across all channels to provide your customers with a standard experience because they are familiar with the sites.
For your m-commerce services to be efficient, remove the clutter and any other irrelevant information on the mobile apps. Provide the key information your consumers want to see based on the collected data. For instance, your mobile site or app should be well organized with every product category and have enough details to allow customers to shop on the go. Once you get this right, you’ll have more visitors, which will improve your sales.
Summary
Mobile commerce has become intrinsic in the customers’ day-to-day life and made a great impact on shopping habits. If you are venturing into m-commerce or looking to enhance your presence in the market, mobile customer experience should be your priority. Develop an app that your shoppers can use to look for items in stock, place an order, track shipping, and make returns. Ensure that the app includes all the details on the website and is easy to navigate. If all the aspects of the app are running properly, you can create a memorable shopping experience for your mobile customers and keep them coming back for more products.
Looking to enhance your mobile customer experience with relevant and engaging communications? Discover what Pushwoosh has to offer: explore our solution for e-commerce or request a demo to dive deeper into your business cases and needs.
