Member Article

Browsers vs Buyers

Many businesses fall in to a trap of thinking about ‘mobile browsing’ and ‘desktop buying’ and traditionally focus efforts (and attribution measurements) on ‘last click’ desktop conversions. Ignoring the growing trend of cross-device shopping and mobile buying could mean sacrificing potential customers. What’s more, focusing efforts on last-click desktop conversions can lead to serious, long term misallocations of resources.

So what should advertisers be thinking about?

Cross-device tracking

Forrester research shows that relatively few companies are currently tracking consumers across devices effectively, with only 28% of surveyed retailers confident they can track sales across all devices.[1]

However, the vast majority of customer journeys take place across multiple devices. Two thirds of consumers will begin browsing for products on a smartphone, and 61% of those will continue their journey on a PC/laptop. By not tracking these consumers across devices, and only focusing on the second-stage of their journey, advertisers won’t be able to effectively highlight relevant products or understand the routes their customers take.

Undoubtedly it is getting harder to track customer purchase journeys, as devices get more numerous and buying patterns become more complex. This is why it is so important for advertisers to harness as much data and new technology as possible to keep up with consumers. There is a huge opportunity for advertisers to add value here, as without this data, personalisation becomes a lot more difficult – so for smaller and growing retailers, heavy investment here is a great way to get ahead of the curve.

The new mobile purchasers

Whilst many shoppers still use mobiles to just browse potential purchases, it is undeniable that businesses are experiencing a shift towards this becoming the channel accounting for the majority of purchases. Now, optimisation here isn’t just important – it is essential.

Criteo research shows that mobile is becoming the purchase device for cross-device shoppers. In fact, consumers driving this growth are 20% more likely than the average shopper to use their mobile device to complete a transaction. What’s more, this group is growing.

In fact, shoppers’ mobile habits have been so well served by the top quartile companies offering mobile transaction journeys that these businesses have seen use increase by a rate of nearly 10% more than their competitors.

Optimising space on both mobile and desktop websites is fundamental to offering consumers as many relevant options as possible, with a view to maximising conversions. Dropdown menus and search bars are great at offering customers a clear pathway to each product, without squeezing them all on to the homepage. A recent survey found that for over 2,000 smartphone users, search is the primary portal through which users find new content on their mobile device.

Are apps the way forward?

Browsers on average view 4 times as many products in apps than on mobile browser, and conversion rates are 120% higher. If those figures weren’t enough on their own, 80% of online shopping takes place within an app – so ignore them at your peril.

In Q4 of 2015, mobile accounted for more than half of digital sales for the first time.

This figure is only set to grow – shoppers are becoming more time poor, and more comfortable with shopping on the go. In order to be successful, advertisers must tap into this trend and ensure that businesses are planning for sales as well as casual window shoppers. And as well as an awareness of the direction that the market is travelling in, it’s important for retailers to understand the need to invest in the technology that will help them stay on course. Using technology to monitor individual user behaviour, advertisers can predict what consumers are going to buy, and which device this is most likely to occur on.

[1] Forrester report, People Focused Marketing

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Thomas Jeanjean .