Consumers losing patience with poor mobile retail experiences

With around 65% of mobile and tablet owners using their device to complete online purchases, it’s crucial that any retailer gets their online shopping experience right in order to compete. But what exactly are consumers looking for – and what really turns them off?

39% of those asked in EPiServer’s Mobile Commerce 2014 said the most important feature that they want to see from a mobile retail experience is an easy and direct way to contact customer services, showing that with innovations such as video chat via Amazon Mayday, consumers are increasingly expecting seamless and instant contact with the brands they are looking to buy from.

The biggest bugbear was speed, closely followed by lack of automatic screen size adaptation, which reflects findings from 2013, however there is noticeable difference in the extent of consumer forgiveness; in 2014 only 37% of consumers will wait and visit the brand’s site from a desktop, compared to 47% last year, which means potentially losing almost two thirds of buyers to the competition.

Speed and convenience are the key drivers to buying via a mobile device, so when these elements are not delivered the primary benefits to shopping on a smartphone or tablet quickly disappear and consumers will look to other retailers to complete their purchases.

The in-depth report also shows that while some retailers are already doing really well at mobile commerce, overall there is still some way to go, with scores from the leading 20 retailers varying from 75% to a poor 8%, with an overall average of 47%.

Download the full report below to find out more about winners and losers in the mobile commerce race, as well as further insights about consumer’s expectations and frustrations.