Mobile Retail: Winning The Monetization Fight

By Tim Cronin

In a recent comScore report, an estimated 12 percent of ecommerce sales were completed through mobile devices in Q4 of 2012, an increase of 10 percent from the previous quarter. As mobile device adoption picks up at monumental speed worldwide, many brick and mortar stores are struggling and competing with their online counterparts. This clear shift in how consumers engage in the shopping experience as a whole opens the door for monetization for publishers and app developers.  We’ve outlined a few ways publishers and app developers can give retail shops a run for their money.

Dress your site for mobile use

 Desktop-friendly sites are often hard to read on the smaller screens of mobile devices.. By developing a mobile-optimized website, publishers can provide the best user experience for users with limited screen sizes and Internet connections. Make your site friendly for mobile, and optimize it across all devices and operating platforms. A site that’s easy to navigate on mobile will keep users clicking, swiping and tapping for longer periods of time and more likely to make their purchase from their mobile devices. One example is Sundance Catalog.Their mobile site, which launched in Fall 2011,saw its mobile revenue more than double  by Q4 of the same year.. Consumers crave shopping experiences that are simple, fun and social in nature, and get them to where they want to go faster. As publishers, that means the work doesn’t end once you’ve optimized your site for mobile. Look at current customer behaviors and the types of ads they’re more likely to interact with and click on, analyze what devices are driving the majority of your mobile traffic and sales, then tweak the messaging, content and advertising strategies on your site to maximize ROI and sales.

Target sales to the right customers

One of the biggest advantages that mobile publishers and app developers have over retail shops is the ability to target sales, promotions and discounts to customers in specific locations. The more targeted, relevant and personalized mobile ads are, especially in the retail sector, the more likely publishers will be to increase the level of customer engagement, click-through rates and, most importantly, sales.Targeted ads allow publishers and app developers to hook mobile users into their mobile site or app, and essentially get them to click on the ad.

Be smart with calls to action

eMarketer estimates 92.5 million people in the US redeemed a digital coupon in 2012, and expect that number to surpass 100 million by 2014. Of that 100 million, eMarketer estimates over half will be redeemed via mobile sources. If there’s one thing mobile consumers love, it’s a deal and one that doesn’t take too much time to redeem. Whether it’s choosing button colors that don’t blend in with the overall site/app design, unambiguous wording that makes sense to your customer base (i.e. “add to basket” or “add to shopping cart”), or making your buttons huge, be smart with your calls to action. Each choice should get mobile users to their final destination in less clicks and ultimately tie into your long-term monetization strategy.