Shopping Experience Seen Lagging on Mobile Devices

January 17, 2012

baynote-personalized-online-shopping-experience-jan12.gifThe proportion of online shoppers who say that the personalization of their shopping experience on smartphones (16.8%) or tablets (15.5%) did not meet their expectations during the 2011 holiday season far exceeds those who felt that way about their experience on a traditional e-commerce site (6.64%), according to [download page] a survey released in January 2012 by Baynote. Facebook also lagged, with 15.7% saying the personalization of their experience on the social network did not meet their expectations.

Facebook fared the worst in terms of privacy, with 21% saying that it did not meet their expectations, ahead of smartphones (15%), tablets (12.7%), and e-commerce sites (5%).

Mobile Sites Don’t Measure Up

In terms of overall shopping experience, e-commerce sites again led the way, with 95.4% of respondents saying that their holiday experience on this channel met or exceeded their expectations. Shopping experiences on smartphones were the next-most highly rated shopping channel, with 84% saying they met or exceeded their expectations, ahead of Facebook (83.5%) and tablets (82.1%). According to a January ForeSee report, of the 16 retailers studied, the average satisfaction score for their websites was 79 on a 100-point scale, compared to 76 for their mobile experiences.

Results from an L2 study [download page] released in January 2012 may reveal why this satisfaction gap exists: according to the study, the mobile sites of 66 prestige brands studied consistently failed to replicate key features and functionalities found on the main sites. For example, main sites were more likely than mobile sites to contain a store locator (82% vs. 67%), video (79% vs. 23%), product or property search (74% vs. 44%), and order or reservation tracking (41% vs. 20%).

Social Commerce Adoption Poor

Data from the “2nd Annual Baynote Holiday Shopping Survey” indicates that only 8.7% of respondents purchased something from a retailer’s Facebook fan page during the 2011 holiday season, while just 1 in 5 said that personal connections on Facebook or another social networking site influenced what they purchased. Similarly, only 19.1% ultimately purchased something on a retailer’s website based on a promotion or special offer they received on Facebook.

According to an Oracle study released in December 2011, 34% of American and Canadian consumers say they would never purchase products via a retailer’s Facebook page, compared to 19% who said they would (9%) or already have (10%) done so.

Coupons Most Useful Via Email

Meanwhile, according to the Baynote survey, coupons and promotions delivered via email were most useful to shoppers, achieving an average rank of 1.5. Direct mail (2.1) and search engine result (2.2) took the next 2 spots, ahead of Daily deal sites and Facebook, with an average ranking of 2.3 and 2.4, respectively.

QR codes were the least useful way to receive holiday coupons and promotions, with an average rank of 2.7, behind Twitter (2.6) and mobile applications (2.4).

About the Data: The Baynote results are based on a survey of 1,032 US online holiday shoppers.

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