eCommerce businesses rely on the online audience to respond to whatever they happen to be selling. But the Internet has changed. The user base has exploded, with mobile revenue growing three times over in the space of a year, and they are all demanding something different. Partly driven by technology and partly driven by the need for convenience, mobile shopping has exploded.
But why do eCommerce businesses, more than most, need to use mobile to be successful? This guide explains why it's necessary for customers, but also why it can make managing your business easier.
It's What People Want
Logistics and shipping aside, this is what people want from all companies that have an online presence. They are no longer going to accept that they have to find a desktop computer or go into a physical store. They want to make purchases wherever they happen to be at any given time.
You need to, at the very least, be in the possession of a mobile website. Many companies are finding that to make the most of their mobile user base they have to spend time having a mobile app developed just for them.
Time and Speed
People expect speed to go hand in hand with online shopping. This can be difficult for an eCommerce business to manage. It's especially true for smaller companies because they may only have one or two people working for the company, and purchases are being made at all hours.
To account for delays, you may connect your mobile facilities with a dispatch management platform. This ensures that purchases are fully processed and made ready for shipping the moment someone makes a purchase on the go. For a business, this is both more efficient and timelier.
The Way People Visit Stores
Many stores operate primarily as eCommerce businesses because that's where the majority of their business comes from. They do have offline stores where customers can visit, if they like. This may make up an incredibly small number of customers, but it's closely entwined with mobile.
This is because Google has shown that up to half of all mobile searches for local stores lead to an actual visit within 24 hours. It's an incredible conversion rate, and one that shouldn't be discounted even if you happen to be operating mainly online.
The Issue of SEO
eCommerce businesses will gain most of their traffic from Google. Going mobile should be seen as an essential matter because Google will penalize your website if your website isn't responsive. With an increasing move towards local SEO rankings, you also have to take into account the fact that not being present in local listings could hurt you in the Google rankings.
Luckily, Google only demands that you have a mobile website for now. Only later on they might decide to further push local and hyperlocal SEO, and you have to incorporate these changes into your SEO strategies.
Why You Need to Go Mobile in the Back
But going mobile isn't just vital for the survival of your business from a customer-facing point of view. Think about how you are managing your business. In the case of a small business, the chances are you don't have someone to monitor everything that happens to be going on at the time.
For example, are you going to be able to check your inventory and place new orders on the fly? If you have to visit the office in order to do this, it's not good enough. You should be able to whip out your smartphone and see the current stock level of every product.
You should be able to see new purchases and you should be able to control everything wherever you happen to be. As previously mentioned, this is what customers demand from businesses these days. They are not going to accept anything less. You need to make sure that you are keeping customer relationships strong via great management.
The Affordability Part
The best part is creating an advanced system where you can communicate with your shipping department and the sales department doesn't have to cost you a lot of money. It's entirely affordable, and the cost is only going down as it becomes more and more common.
This will save you money because it's the most low-cost communication system around. It will transform the way you manage your company's logistics.
Last Word
As you can see, going mobile as an eCommerce business brings benefits for both the customer and the way you are managing and marketing your company.
Will you be going mobile within your eCommerce company today?