The world is becoming more mobile every day, be it smartphones, tablets, smartwatches… It is clear – and we can only bury our heads in the ground not to want to see it – that Internet users navigate with mobile devices. And in that process, on many occasions, purchase is also included. Google is aware of this trend, how could it be otherwise, and in order to “guarantee a better user experience” for its users, it already prioritizes mobile-friendly websites and places them in the first search results when viewed from a mobile device he follows .

According to Criteo, more than a third of online store sales (34%) are made via mobile devices. In addition, the percentage of consumers who use their mobile device to shop online is 50%.

not for every price

Before you lose your temper and run away like a headless chicken, you need to answer three questions to figure out if you need to sell both online and mobile: “Does it make sense to sell your product online? are you online?? And will the fact that they buy from you online add meaning and value to your customer?” suggests Pablo Renaud, CEO of Ebolution E-Commerce (www.ebolution.com).

In this sense, before investing a euro, you should analyze what you are selling, because it is not the same thing to sell products related to compulsion to buy rather than reflective buying. Also if you compete on price – and how much you weigh compared to your competition – or offer an added value that makes you special and/or unique. Whether your prospects use technology and how they reach your product family: whether they are just looking for information; when they compare prices, products, features…; whether your product is low, medium or high range, because buying a blouse is not the same as buying a car, for example.

Fernando Rivero, CEO of Ditrendia (www.ditrendia.es), underlines one of the data from the Mobile Report in Spain and in the World 2015: “The study not only confirms that as consumers we use more multichannel (online, offline, by phone…), but also that we increasingly use different Devices (web, mobile phone, tablet…) in our purchase decision”. That is why, in his opinion, every online store should evaluate and analyze the purchasing process of its customers to decide how, when and in what way to sell online. “Because maybe not the entire sales process is done online. Maybe your customer searches on their phone and then buys via tablet, web, physical store or phone. So there will be certain businesses that should only be there for information because their customers are looking for information and then contacting the store by phone or through a computer.”

Shopping addiction vs. reflective

In addition to the context in which your potential customer moves, the degree and immediacy of purchasing a specific product should also be evaluated. And in this sense, you must analyze if your product is the result of a compulsive purchase (e.g. a car, a piece of furniture, a piece of jewelry…). “But one or the other doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be mobile. For example, when you think of a holiday destination, it can take a while to decide on where to stay, how to get there, and so on. During this time you search for information, compare… in different interactions (channels) and across different devices. While for forced purchases you have to offer very agile systems so that the buying process doesn’t take forever because if it doesn’t, it won’t end. It’s an irrefutable truth that we’re increasingly using mobile devices to browse the web,” says Rivero, “And sometimes, because of the nature of the product you’re selling, you need to be on your phone throughout the process, and so on times, only in some phases.

“The second case – that of reflective purchase products – is not so much about having or not having a mobile presence. Clothing, for example, needs to be present on mobile devices, but their meaning does not come from the product itself, but from user engagement. You don’t have to be there to sell, but to excite the user so that he buys from me and not from the competition,” says Jaume Cornadó, CEO of mOddity (www.moddity.net).

Of course, you should also assess what sales volume you have. “If your online volume is acceptable, you need to be in m-commerce too, and not because of what’s selling on mobile, but because of what’s selling. Thanks to larger screens, the user has more and more desire to shop from a mobile phone. People have lost their fear of buying online. Because of this, anything you make available to your users will increase your sales,” says Cornadó.

Mobile web or native app?

The decision depends on several factors, “like the type of product you’re selling; the amount of product rotation and sales you have per customer; the level of knowledge they have about your brand, because if they don’t know you, you won’t download an app from all stores; whether the product is sold through your store or through a retailer,” lists Rivero.

According to this expert, “when your customers are only using their mobile phone to look up information about the family of products you sell, and the purchase decision is made from another device or channel (phone, face-to-face, online), have You to analyze what kind of information (helping in sales) you need to integrate in order to add value to them (videos, games, configurators, comparators, blogs…). Then it would make sense, for example, to develop an app for those who are already your customers to improve customer service. You must assess whether the goal is to attract or to hold. Apps are essential for the latter. I don’t see it that much in recruitment.”

Cornadó from mOddity recommends having an app if your product requires it and you have the resources to take care of this channel: “If you want mobile to see the same thing you have on your website, with a responsive (or web-adapted) can already work for you. But if you want to engage users, work with them, study their metrics… a responsive doesn’t give you that. That is given to you by a native app. But the problem with apps is that you have to try (from the provider’s point of view) to get the user to use it, ie you have to give it a value because it’s not worth seeing the same thing on your website. . In this case one answer would suffice. Additionally, if you have a retail channel, putting a loyalty page in an app is a very good strategy for users to take advantage of and get a lot of customer loyalty. You always have to look for the added value of the phone, because duplicating functionalities from one side to another is a guarantee of failure.”

Do you have a recognized brand?

For Guillermo García, CEO of Onestic (http://onestic.com), there was an app fever and after this new experience, users usually don’t have many apps on their phones. “Unless you are a recognized brand and don’t have followers willing to give you that privileged place in their terminals permanently or for a period of use long enough to recoup the investment, there’s no point in making an app to develop. However, the apps will make a spectacular journey by serving as tools to complete purchases.”

company management