Some businesses could be losing customers to competitors because they are giving customers a poor mobile web experiences if they do not build mobile strategies that properly addresses changing web access patterns or the many different devices that people use. So says Netbiscuits’ quarterly Metrics Report, which shows that even if enterprises design for the top 10 most used devices they still only cover 56% of global traffic.
Mobile web user habits are changing and websites are being accessed through devices rarely covered in enterprise mobile strategies. In 7 out of 8 regional markets studied, more web traffic still comes via feature phones than tablets. This is critical for Enterprise mobile strategies which tend to rely on their PC sites running on tablets, which in itself is also a limited strategy by ignoring features like touch and GPS functionality.
Declining use of Blackberry devices has led some businesses to omit optimising their web experience for these smartphones. The Metrics Report reveals, however, that whilst declining, six Blackberry devices are still among the top 25 devices based on global traffic share, with the Blackberry 8520 in fifth place.
“Unless enterprises embrace changing trends in how people access the web, they could leave the majority of their customers with a slow, limited or even irrelevant experience and ultimately lose customers to competitors with better, more engaging experiences,” says Daniel Weisbeck, CMO, Netbiscuits. “Enterprises need to ensure that their web app or site adapts for a superior and customised web experience across all devices, browsers and features if they are to have the best chance of engaging and retaining their customers in a highly competitive economy. This is where responsive design is never enough. Responsive design doesn’t help companies adapt the experience through faster image conversion, GPS and touch functions as an example.”
The Metrics Report also reveals the top device categories by global web traffic. The iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S tops the list with 31% of global traffic share, followed by the Samsung GT-I9100 (Galaxy S2, Galaxy Z) with 6% share and the Samsung GT-I9300 in third with 4%.
The cloud-based Netbiscuits adaptive web development platform enables companies to quickly and easily create rich mobile web experiences customised to every mobile device, whatever its global traffic share.
