Mobile eCommerce Traffic Skyrocketed in 2019

by Michelle Lawrence | Last Updated: Jan 30, 2020

Can you believe the holidays were a little over a month ago? I’ve (almost) mourned the loss of listening to Christmas music 24/7 (I would listen to it year-round if socially acceptable). What I don’t miss, however, is holiday shopping. As a self-proclaimed procrastinator, I have a long-standing history of waiting until the final hour to visit the mall for gifts and then being outraged when the checkout line looks like a ride at Disney World. But not this past holiday season...I promised myself that I would turn a new leaf. Before I had even sat down for Thanksgiving dinner, I had purchased everything on my list right from my phone. And I wasn’t alone. Smartphones attributed to 84 percent of the 2019 holiday season eCommerce growth. Let’s break down some of the trends we saw in mobile this past holiday shopping season. Mobile eCommerce Reaches New Record Think mobile traffic only contributed to a small portion of revenue during the holidays? Guess again. According to Adobe’s Holiday 2019 Recap, consumers spent more than $50 billion on their smartphones during the 2019 holiday season. So why did 2019 see a 12 percent increase in shoppers purchasing on mobile? Well, companies have social media to thank for the record-breaking year. 64 percent of revenue from social network sales came from smartphones. Instagram, Facebook, and now even TikTok are developing features to make social commerce even easier for consumers to shop. This past holiday season demonstrated so much success in social commerce, that 52 percent of retail marketers plan on increasing their social ad budgets this year. And don’t forget about email! 49 percent of revenue from email newsletters were opened on mobile...Email can be incredibly effective when it comes to eCommerce..the only caveat is you have to do it right. Simply including buttons and having a concise message on a readable page can increase click-throughs. Did Santa Use Drive Up? Though we may never know if the jolly man in the red suit used Target’s Drive Up, we do know consumers took full advantage of the Buy Online Pick-up In-Store (BOPIS) concept this past holiday season. With 82 percent of BOPIS shoppers converting in less than a day, it’s no surprise BOPIS attributed to a 39 percent increase in sales compared to 2018. And even when consumers are actually shopping in-store, they’re still turning to mobile platforms to check coupons, compare prices, and more. Even Mobile Has Its Flaws Despite the growth eCommerce saw this year, consumers were still hesitant to complete their purchase on mobile. 50 percent of smartphone shoppers abandon their carts on mobile, compared to 33 percent of shoppers on desktop. Blame it on unresponsive mobile websites or poor UX/UI app designs, there’s a point in the customer journey where customers are becoming frustrated with their mobile shopping experience. Here are some top obstacles that are keeping shoppers from converting on mobile:

Poor navigation on a mobile app. Consider having layered actions on mobile when consumers are ready to purchase. That way users never have to leave the home screen.
Websites aren’t optimized for mobile. It’s 2020 people! No one wants to pinch or scroll on mobile to view a website. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly to keep shoppers from leaving. Or, just bite the bullet and go all-in on a mobile-first mentality.
The checkout is long. Just like in-store purchases, if the checkout process seems long, customers are likely to ditch their cart. Keep online checkout to less than five clicks.
No one is downloading a native app anymore. Native apps take up storage and can take a long time to download. Consider developing a PWA platform. But don’t take my word for it. See the success Lancome had with their mobile website conversion rate.

Looking Into The Crystal Ball So what can we expect from mobile in 2020? Companies will start to target a different demographic...Generation Z. Gen Z is twice as likely to convert on mobile compared to other generations...but they aren’t handing over a portion of their $17 allowance for just anyone. In order to capture the young shoppers’ attention, retailers have about five seconds (this is now less time than a goldfish’s attention span) to pique their interest through (you guessed it) social media and influencer marketing. Personalization will also be a focus of retailers’ strategies this year..and no, I’m not just talking about putting someone’s name in the subject of an email. 80 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase something if they receive a highly personalized experience. Mobile had a great end to 2019 and I’m excited to see how retailers will continue to revamp their mobile strategies this year. Be sure to follow along with the blog this year as we continue to see companies develop a mobile-first mindset.

Mobile eCommerce Traffic Skyrocketed in 2019

See Lumavate in Action

Meet with one of our experts to see how easy it is to centralize your product data, manage digital assets, and create digital product experiences. Trust us…you’re going to be wowed.