Meeting m-commerce expectations: Five moments of truth

A mobile transaction needs to have the same level of security as the website – padlock symbols, authorised payment gateways, and https URLs

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The crux of any digital agenda has always been customer expectations: What should be the nature of a customer’s online experience? In the past decade, marketers have successfully built their online presence based on customer feedback on their ecommerce portals. However, the rapid expansion and adoption of smart phones for almost all digital interactions—social, commerce or search—is reshaping the digital environment. There is an urgent need to rapidly rethink the digital strategy and align it to a customer’s mobile-commerce (m-commerce) expectations. Google, for instance, has recognised this trend and changed its search algorithm to award higher rankings to websites which are mobile friendly; this, in itself, can make or break a website.

Five m-commerce aspects that will help stay relevant in the digital race
A good starting point for any m-commerce strategy is customer expectations. Once you determine this, shape your strategy around it. Here’s how:

Home page
Today, customers browsing on their smartphones look for many features to incorporate their mobile-based lifestyle. Geo-based services, auto dial-outs for direct contact and real-time social media updates are some features of this lifestyle that must be accommodated in the home page. In addition, the mobile site’s home page must represent the overall brand experience. Be sure to check if the overall brand experience is similar across channels—print, TV, website and mobile.

Search
Customers, today, have expressed their difficulty in typing a query in a search box, given the small screens of smartphones. Google has already launched voice-based search. Is your mobile site optimised for this?

Product catalogue
While ecommerce has lived up to expectations by introducing features such as product videos and customer reviews, m-commerce is struggling to fit similar traits on small mobile screens. Is it time to bring in apps to deliver these features and yet, maintain the essential simplicity of a mobile interaction?

Purchase and payment
A mobile transaction must have the same level of security as a website—padlock symbols, authorised payment gateways, and secure URLs. However, customers may be unwilling to go through a lengthy registration process on a small screen. Are these concerns addressed through guest check-outs?

Delivery and customer helpdesk
Distribution and tracking services for mobile users are the norms today. In addition, most customers expect phone-based helpdesks rather than FAQs, which are the norm for websites. Are you geared to handle distribution to a mobile-based customer? Retail companies have moved fast and are capitalising on m-commerce. They have used the time-tested ‘e-Mystery shopper’ method to gather customer expectations and shape their m-commerce strategy. Detailed assessments of shopper requirements in different products, markets and geographies will greatly enhance the digital customer experience and fetch higher returns on m-commerce investments. With m-commerce expected to overtake traditional online channels by 2017, it becomes imperative for enterprises to closely monitor their customers’ expectations today and design their m-commerce strategies for tomorrow.

- Shyam Rao, Client Services - Digital Services, Infosys BPO

The thoughts and opinions shared here are of the author.