Going Smart With Phones

As more shoppers use smartphones to make purchases, having a mobile Web site where visitors can shop your products and services while on the go has become critical. M-commerce is rapidly overtaking e-commerce as the de facto mode for online transactions. With over 60 per cent of total online orders coming from mobiles, there is little doubt that m-commerce will be ruling soon.

Major e-commerce companies are embracing mobile strategy –   Myntra went app only, Flipkart will soon be app only, Freecharge was acquired by Snapdeal to go big in the segment.

If you starting-up an m-commerce business, here is how you go smart with phones –

Research your customers' needs

To cater to smart phone users and provide an impeccable user experience, you must understand the context in which the customers are using mobile and use this to better the services they already offer.

By identifying the main struggles customers face, a business can work at resolving these issues, ensuring their mobile apps and mobile-optimized sites are easy to navigate and have sufficient information to keep customers feeling at ease and secure right through to the end of the checkout process.

Make the user interface user-friendly

Mobile consumers are task-oriented – unlike online or in-store consumers, they are much less likely to spend time browsing for products and services and are more likely to log on to sites with a purpose to buy. Businesses need to ensure they provide an easy, quick and consistent mobile user experience to ensure their customers remain loyal.

Easy Navigation

Along with keeping it simple, you need to make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for and move through mobile site. Because web pages on smartphones may be slow to load, every click will need to count. Include links to the checkout screen on all product pages to save user’s time.

Quick and simple

The best apps perform a simple set of functions that solve a problem or task quickly and simply, with a quick and responsive interface. Banking is a perfect example of where apps work really well as they perform a simple task and don’t require much input from customers. Simple tasks such as balance transfers and payments can be made swiftly without fuss. Through apps, brands are able to improve our lives, making light work of menial, lengthy tasks, no longer on a fixed PC but on the move – all helping to develop a positive experience.