Over 50% Of Britons Unhappy With M-Commerce Experience

It was interesting to read recently that nearly 50% of Britons using their mobile phones to shop with retailers were not satisfied with their experience and it failed to live up to their expectations, according to new research.

EPiServer’s study, entitled ‘Mobile commerce: What consumers really want’, showed that about two-thirds of Britons owning a smartphone go online via their devices every day, with more than half of them using their gadgets to purchase items at least once a week. The e-commerce and digital marketing solutions provider identified speed as the factor that most often ruined their experience with a retailer, which was cited by 49% of the 1,000 consumers polled. Apart from slow loading times, 48% of consumers find it irritating when they have to navigate both horizontally and vertically in order to view a page. Another 37% complained of signing in difficulties, while 35% said that links appeared too small on a mobile screen.

More than half of consumers would leave a website if it fails to run adequately and 28% admitted that they would visit a competitor website, implying that retailers might be missing out on new customers and potential returns if they are not complying with consumers’ mobile expectations.

‘Mobile First’ consumers, who are pushing the PC to the back seat, are championing the critical importance of the mobile channel to companies’ online strategies, David Bowen, product manager at EPiServer, commented. The adoption of smartphones and tablets is expanding at a quick rate and consumers are becoming less merciful, expecting mobile sites and pages to provide an engaging experience consistent with that on a desktop PC, he said.