We kicked off Money2020 this past Sunday with a presentation of our recent mobile shopping research to members of the Retail Gift Card Association. The research shows that consumers have identified major gaps in retail shopping apps.
We found that consumers are embracing online shopping at higher rates, and are migrating to mobile faster than ever before. In fact, 30% of shoppers choose physical stores for less than half of their everyday shopping, and online-only retailers and mobile shopping are making a big impact on consumer habits. Altogether, three out of four shoppers shop online at some point.
However, as we pointed out to the RGCA, there is a hidden dissatisfaction with mobile shopping. Consumers are disappointed with the inability to get help within a mobile app, and with many mobile apps still in their infancy, mobile shopping can grow only if customer care can keep up with expectations.
One thing that we discussed with our friends at RGCA was that many companies don’t know best practices for creating mobile shopping apps. Instead of starting from scratch to create the best mobile experiences possible, companies largely try to lift and shift their web experiences to mobile and it’s not working. Oftentimes companies abandon their apps after investing large amounts of time, effort, and money when they realize this, and not only are those resources then wasted, but the company is behind on providing a seamless mobile experience to shoppers and they could be lost forever.
Although retail investments in online and mobile shopping experiences are paying off, keeping the trend going requires more attention to customer care. One out of every six consumers say they struggle with mobile shopping apps more than half of the time. Apps are clearly not reaching their full potential and may in fact be vulnerable, because 71% of consumers will abandon their cart or leave apps entirely when they struggle.
The message we had for the RGCA was simple: Avoid letting your business go off a cliff due to abandoned sales. By not offering in-app customer care, you are alienating more than half of your customers and losing sales. Your company will benefit if you can match the gift card experience with mobile shopping desires: an experience that mimics what they are used to on the web, fast and easy navigation, personalized offers, and the ability to get customer care when, and how, they need it.
