Evidence of the increased focus on mobile included more opportunities to search out-of-stock items and place orders online via a mobile phone while in a bricks-and-mortar store. Many retailers also took the extra step during the recent holiday shopping period to give their mobile sites and apps a holiday feel with gift guides, seasonal deals and featured products.
Target (US) gave traditional holiday-shopping a mobile-era makeover with a wish list application enabling parents to see, manage and share kids’ favorite items that also integrated with the retailer’s print catalog via augmented reality. “The experience was designed to be an easy and fun way for kids to create their holiday wish lists," said Jamie Bastian, a spokeswoman for Minneapolis-based Target. “Kids have the opportunity to select Target Wish List items from hundreds of must-haves and are also able to interact with the printed toy catalog through the augmented reality feature.” Retailers like Home Depot and PetSmart altered web content throughout the season to provide a more relevant and timely experience for customers. Waiting until checkout to provide customer shipping assurances is too late, especially on mobile web and apps where clicks and steps matter. Little things like prominently advertising key shipping dates go a long way in building confidence with shoppers.
Another important lesson from the recent holiday shopping season is the need for consistency across devices, with many retailers making the mistake of emphasizing desktop experiences over mobile. This meant that experiences available to shoppers when they were at home on their desktop or laptop were unavailable on the devices they carried with them while out shopping.Also, the need to find the right balance between consumer demand for all-encompassing mobile experience and mobile sites/apps that are quick to load is important. As mobile traffic spiked during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, many U.S. retailers such as Best Buy, Neiman Marcus and J. Crew experienced outages and slowdowns. Having a mobile site that under performs during the holidays causes shoppers to simply jump to another brand’s site and not return.
If there is a common theme with marketers and retailers during the holiday season, it is the importance of real-time analytics in reaching shoppers in the moment. The need to recognize the value of big data and analytics in designing their campaigns is a major leg-up for marketers during the most competitive time of the year. Consumers are not only hunting for the best bargains, but are paying attention to the brands who know them best, personalize offers, and provide a relevant and engaging experience.Analytics can also be used to eliminate any potential pain points throughout the consumer shopping experience. Identifying and exploring the “why” behind mobile app failures, website usability issues and other obstacles that led to failed transactions, shopping cart abandonment or negative feedback on social media. Taking some time to understand the “why” as well as the “how” can eliminate potential issues during the make or break holiday rush.
So folks, let’s learn from our mistakes before ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ is upon us again.
