Today’s mobile shoppers are more research obsessed than ever. They spend time searching mobile sites and apps to find the best products, deals, and reviews. This new consumer switches between apps and mobile sites before making a final decision. Throughout this ritual, he expects friction-free research experiences and seamless points of sale. This new behavior requires merging teams among app and mobile web marketers. However many organizations still silo these teams, resulting in fragmented user experiences.
To better understand how both channels drive purchasing decisions, let’s examine how these platforms are regarded by the consumers.
Apps are perceived as more user-friendly.
Apps are almost like a speed-dial button. They have long been viewed as the defacto platform for engaging loyal customers. But even among the most loyal of customers, apps need to earn their spot. An app needs to be useful and must instill trust if it’s going to take up real estate on a phone. People want their phone to be neat and tidy and don’t want any rubbish. Recent Google research shows that,
87% of people say they can be loyal to a brand without having its app on their phone. In fact, 53% of smartphone users say they do not have their favorite brand’s app installed on their phone.
People switch to mobile sites when they need more information.
People turn to a mobile site for direct access to a brand’s website or to widen their research. Mobile sites fulfill a customer’s need to learn about, engage with, and make purchases from a brand without needing to resort to an app. In fact,
two out of three people say they can achieve the same goal on a brand’s mobile site as they can on its app.
On the other hand, having a mobile site that’s slow or hard to navigate doesn’t just hurt short-term conversions, it impacts a person’s perception of a brand.
50% of people look poorly on brands with mobile sites which they can’t not use on a smartphone.
People switch constantly between apps and mobile sites.
The lines continue to blur between apps and mobile sites.
On average, a mobile shopping session contains at least six visits to an app and/or mobile site. Nearly half of those sessions include at least one transition between a mobile site and an app.
In the recent Google research mentioned above consumers switch from a mobile app to a mobile site when browsing, researching, or purchasing, mainly because they want to go straight to the source or because they are more familiar with the mobile site. Contrariwise people switch to apps from a mobile site because it is quicker to navigate and purchase and it saves them time in the checkout process.
Merging teams with a purpose.
With over 40% of online transactions happening on mobile, it’s easy to see why creating a frictionless mobile shopping experience across apps and mobile sites are key. Both platforms offer specific benefits to users. But the advantage they pose for marketers is their ability to complement each other. Whether it’s using your mobile site to build awareness for your app or using your app to drive sales via your mobile site, the opportunities for success are there. Invest in merging teams that will make your users come back for more.