Mobile optimisation and customer experience – and how the two work together – are becoming key to retailers.
Nearly 35% of UK-based online retailers list customer experience as their highest priority in the coming year, with mobile optimisation coming in a strong second (26%). These results, released today by SLI Systems , a worldwide e-commerce provider for mid-to-large size Internet retailers and B2B sites, come from a survey conducted among more than 200 participants at the third annual SLI Connect UK e-commerce forum in London.
The news comes as no surprise: customer experience is becoming a key differentiator for etailers and mobility is the key to customer experience.
The three site features retailers list as most important for customers are relevant search results, ease of navigation and mobile friendliness, with personalised recommendations also featured strongly.
Personalisation (16.5%) and omnichannel (11%) lag as top priorities in this survey as retailers identify a stronger focus on improving the overall customer experience and specifically the mobile shopping experience.
“The features they’ve identified as most critical for their customers will all help improve the customer experience,” saysShaun Ryan, Chief Innovation Officer and Co-Founder, SLI Systems. “With great search, easy navigation and a mobile friendly site, customers will naturally have a better shopping experience because they’ll find the items they’re looking to buy.”
Nearly 85% of retailers surveyed said they measure customer engagement in terms of revenue. Time-on-site was the next most important measure of engagement, as more retailers add site content like how-to articles, videos and social posts to build customer loyalty and improve the user experience.
Survey Results in full (rounded to the nearest percentage point):
Which of the following initiatives is the highest in priority for your e-commerce business in the next 12 months? (Choose 1)
Mobile/tablet optimisation – 26%
Customer experience – 33%
Omnichannel – 13%
Personalisation – 15%
Data Integration – 13%
Which channels are most important to your business in the next 12 months? (Choose up to 3)
Mobile – 71%
Tablets – 35%
Online – 74%
Kiosks – 0%
Bricks & Mortar – 14%
Catalogues – 10%
Social Media – 22%
Which of the following site features do you think are most important to your customers?
(Choose up to 3)
Relevant search results – 66%
Easily understood navigation – 46%
Mobile/tablet friendliness – 45%
Personalised recommendations – 42%
Non-product content (blogs; video etc) – 18%
Fast load times – 32%
Other (please specify) – 1%
How do you measure customer engagement? (Choose up to 3)
Revenue/order value84%
Time on site – 42%
Increased Social Media (Likes, Follows) – 32%
Loyalty program enrollment – 13%
‘Tell a friend’ referrals – 4%
Promotional ad/email clickthroughs – 33%
Other (please specify) – 4%
How many search queries do you think your customers are willing to make on your site to find the exact product they want?
1 – 11%
2 – 47%
3 – 26%
4 – 8%
5 – 1%
As many as they need to – 7%
