B2B Cyber Monday

Cyber Monday continues to set records for consumer ecommerce. Meanwhile, B2B ecommerce remains largely underdeveloped.

Essent is publishing a series of articles that examine how B2B ecommerce can perform more like B2C.

Installments include:

Series Overview

10 Areas to Improve

Deals and Promotions

Carts and Catalogs

Customer Self-Service

Enhanced Self-Service

Guest Checkout

Leveraging Mobile

Mobile ecommerce is growing by every measure.

Traffic? Check. More than half of ecommerce traffic is now generated on mobile devices, making mobile the default way that people spend time shopping online.

Revenue? Check. Mobile ecommerce spending grew by 47% in 2014.

Conversions? Check. They have more than doubled from 11% of total ecommerce conversions in 2012 to 25% in 2015.

Understanding how customers use mobile

Even in the three-quarters of ecommerce conversions that happen on a desktop, mobile plays an indispensable role: many users switch between devices to complete a goal.

Shoppers often use their phone or tablet as a research tool then finish up on desktop. They’ll browse, compare, choose items, and even fill carts on mobile. Then they’ll perform the actual checkout on desktop, where the keyboard makes it much easier to fill out the forms.

For many of the 75% of conversions that happen on desktop, the actual decision to convert happened on mobile.

Mobile is integral to ecommerce websites

Because mobile is such an integral part of ecommerce, sellers need to make mobile an integral part of their ecommerce websites – whether B2C or B2B.

Those who have neglected mobile at a time when the majority of traffic comes from mobile have a suboptimal ecommerce website literally most of the time.

The following are ways to make your ecommerce website more mobile-friendly.

Make your ecommerce website responsive and adaptive

Responsive and adaptive websites make websites easy to use on any device, keeps visitors on the site longer, and keeps visitors coming back.

Responsive Web Design (RWD) and Adaptive Web Design (AWD) are similar methods of accomplishing the same thing: creating a website User Interface/User Experience (UI/UX) optimized for any device.

RWD accomplishes that by having content resized to automatically fit the viewport of the device. AWD accomplishes that by having content move around the page, or even having content change, based on the viewport of the device.

RWD and AWD should be used in combination for an optimal UI/UX that makes a website easy to use on any device, keeps visitors on the site longer, and keeps visitors coming back.

To get started on Responsive and Adaptive Web Design for mobile friendliness, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test. Google will say what parts of your website are mobile-friendly and how to fix the parts that are not. The Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmasters) will provide more information.

Abandoned mobile carts need follow up

Cart abandonments should be seen as opportunities

At a glance, abandonment rates for mobile ecommerce appear stunning: As high as 97% of the time that customers pick out items, they don’t actually complete the purchase (at least not during that session).

But that’s not surprising considering how mobile customers shop, using mobile for research before checking out on a desktop. The abandonments should be viewed as opportunities.

That’s because abandoners spend 55% more when they receive remarketing. Ecommerce websites can follow up with remarketing emails that remind abandoners of their cart contents. The email can even offer an incentive like free shipping or a discount code.

If you don’t have the shopper’s email address, the ecommerce website can use cookies to serve the shopper a cart reminder or targeted advertising the next time they return to the site.

Keep mobile checkout short and sweet

Using a tiny keyboard to type information into a dozen tiny form fields isn’t an exercise shoppers want to undertake.

One of the major barriers to mobile ecommerce conversions is the sheer difficulty of typing on a smartphone.

Using a tiny keyboard to type information into a dozen tiny form fields isn’t an exercise shoppers want to undertake. So make sure your mobile checkout forms ask only for what is necessary.

For returning shoppers, autofill data so they don’t have to do it themselves. Also provide third-party payment options like PayPal so customers don’t have to enter all of their card information.

When checkout represents a barrier that halts 97 out of every 100 sales, simplifying checkout represents a huge opportunity to drive more sales.

Mobile can’t be ignored, needs to be leveraged

Even when sales are completed on desktop, it’s still likely that mobile played an integral part

Mobile ecommerce is making significant gains every year in terms of traffic, revenue, and conversions.

Even when sales are completed on desktop, it’s still likely that mobile played an integral part in the conversion process.

Mobile ecommerce sites need to be optimized for smartphones and tablets in order to provide the best user experience possible. By understanding how mobile customers shop, ecommerce websites can take steps like remarketing and simplified checkout to drive more sales.

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