Brands Must Keep Pace with Mobile Customer Engagement

Mobile customer engagement is everywhere today among loyalty marketers, but perhaps, might need to be brought to the frontburner a little more.

Customers are so engaged via mobile that, if loyalty marketers fall behind that rapid pace, it might end up costing them in the long run.

Most consumers, according to a new study from Salsify, rely on their mobile devices to research what to buy. In fact, a significant 77 percent of shoppers use a mobile device while shopping in-store, according to the second annual consumer study commissioned by Salsify, the only product content management (PCM) platform for distributed commerce. That figure compares to just 35 percent of shoppers who opt to speak to a salesperson if they have questions about a product.

With so many turning to mobile while shopping in-store as well, the need for strategic and informed product content has never been more essential. In fact, 87 percent of consumers say accurate, rich, and complete product content is very important when deciding what to buy.

“Consumers are increasingly turning to their mobile devices to answer product-related questions, like price and availability, while they shop," said Jason Purcell, CEO and co-founder of Salsify. “This year’s research again demonstrates just how critical it is for every brand and retailer to have a systematized approach to maintain robust and relevant digital content to retain shopper attention and win sales.”

Ecommerce leaders must prioritize the mobile experience. The research indicates that consumers between the ages of 18 and 29 are most likely to use a mobile device when shopping online (84 percent), followed closely by the 30-44 age group (78 percent). The 60+ set is least likely to shop online via mobile device, with just 36 percent straying from more traditional shopping methods for the convenience of mobile.

Most shoppers (87 percent) begin shopping on either Amazon or Google, however, while only 4 percent of consumers who start on Amazon will buy somewhere else, 38 percent who start a search on Google will buy from a different retailer. This means that brands and retailers have a tremendous opportunity to win sales by improving their product data on Google.

Here are some additional study findings:

Inaccurate product content leads to costly returns and customer churn: 50 percent of shoppers have returned an item they bought online because it did not match the product description. Fifty-four percent of those who returned items are less likely to buy from that vendor again.

Shoppers need robust product content before buying: 70 percent of shoppers need to see at least three product images and 86 percent want to read at least three product reviews before purchasing a product.

Recent Content

Membership and Pricing

Videos and podcasts

Membership and Pricing