This post originally appeared on MobileFOMO.com.
Mobile commerce experience design is a tricky game for digital leaders. Customer expectations are extremely high in the desire for a seamless, efficient purchase process, and the moment that’s interrupted or stalled, they’re jumping ship for another channel (or, a competitor). In fact, a recent study by Harris Interactive and Jumio found that 56% of smartphone owners have abandoned a mobile transaction, with only 36% of the same cohort making a second attempt on a desktop device. Either succeed on the first try, or bid 2/3 of your customers goodbye. A more detailed breakdown of abandonment by industry can be found below.
The causal factors for abandonment are as varied as users are fickle. From belabored account registration walls, to complicated payment processes, to a distrust in mobile security, customers demand a mobile payment experience that is as simple as traditional payment methods, yet aligns more closely with their increasingly mobile lifestyles.
That should be an easy CX strategy to develop, right? Piece of cake.
Through my research on mobile customer experience design and digital transformation, I’ve uncovered that companies struggle when designing mobile experiences that are built on legacy CX strategies. New channels require a new approach to reaching customers at the right time, on their terms. Because, when mobile Millennials encounter even the smallest crack in your app experience design, they’re spending their dollars elsewhere.
And, it’s not just in-app or mobile commerce experiences that require retooling. Organizations must also consider how they’re bridging online and offline commerce experiences with mobile devices. Enter the world of mobile in-store payments, ala Apple Pay, Paypal, and Square. The biggest hindrance to strategies revolving around these payment systems today is their limited acceptance at brick-and-mortar stores due to the additional technology hardware installation required. As a result, Deloitte reports that less than .5% of the global population completed an in-store mobile payment in 2014, with the number expected to grow to 10% by the end of 2015.
If the value of mobile payments is expected to hit $1 trillion USD worldwide in 2017, and expand at a CAGR of 39.1% through 2020, companies must begin re-examining and supplementing their mobile experience and payment strategies now. This isn’t a trend to react to, but rather proactively design mobile-first experiences today to keep customers on-channel through conversion. Your platform has been lit on fire; it’s time to refocus on the demands of your digital customer and design mobile-first experiences, including payment strategies, accordingly. Get started with these steps from my recent report, previously covered in MobileFOMO.
Jaimy Szymanski 