3 Mistakes Ecommerce Merchants Make With Mobile Commerce

With mobile shopping accounting for more than 50% of online purchases, it’s obvious that mobile commerce is huge—and it’s getting bigger. The use of mobile devices for online purchases is growing faster than ecommerce did. For that reason, many make mistakes or have erroneous beliefs about mobile commerce. These mistakes could lead to mcommerce failure.

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Maybe you don’t even know you’re making a mistake. There is time to fix the problems, but first you have to know what those problems are. Here’s a few hints to get you on the right track.

1) You Have Plenty of Time

Okay, there’s still time to fix the problems, and that’s true. What there’s not time for is putting off mobile optimization. Maybe you don’t understand how mobile commerce fits into the overall picture, and you wouldn’t be alone. Believe it or not, 49% of companies say they’re right there with you.

Just because you don’t understand mobile commerce doesn’t mean you can keep putting it off. Just because your buyers still make purchases the traditional way—or perhaps even on your website—doesn’t mean they’re not dying for a mobile version of your site. You could be moments away from losing them to a competitor who does understand mobile commerce. So when we say you have time, we mean you have time to act right now. 

2) Only Young People Shop on Mobile Devices

It makes sense to think that only young shoppers have adopted mobile commerce, but that’s a pretty harmful mistake to make. In truth, about a quarter of mobile shoppers are over the age of 55. Could you afford to refuse sales to 25% of your most loyal shoppers? You may be doing just that if you assume they don’t want a mobile commerce option. 

Regardless of the target age for your business, a mobile commerce solution is vital. Yes, younger shoppers will be more likely to make mobile purchases—so of course, if you do cater to millennials you’ll need a mobile friendly site—but they’re not the only ones. Assuming older shoppers don’t need your mobile site is a dangerous assumption indeed.

3) Mobile Commerce and Ecommerce Are the Same Thing

The only thing more dangerous than considering mcommerce and ecommerce the same is to consider mcommerce somehow less than ecommerce. If you’re not viewing mobile commerce as a viable channel for shoppers, then you haven’t considered the navigational needs for the mobile website, the functional needs of the website and payment options, or the presentation of products and information on the mobile version of your website. Worse, you probably have your “mobile guys” separate from the “ecommerce guys” when they should be working together to provide a seamless experience for buyers.

Mobile shopping should be an integral part of your business, whether you’re online, in a physical store, or both. Mobile marketing and purchasing is an important part of buyers’ decision-making, and you don’t want to interrupt that process for anything. Ready to start optimizing your website for mobile users?