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How Retailers Can Bag E-Commerce Revenue and Shopper Traffic

How Retailers Can Bag E-Commerce Revenue and Shopper Traffic

Today, more and more shoppers first visit a store’s mobile app or website before visiting the actual store. Due to this mobile-first phenomenon, retailers are creating new ways to boost e-commerce revenues and bring more shoppers in the door. They’re accomplishing this by concentrating on consumer shopping comfort and preferences both in store and on the web. After all, mobile website traffic quickly surpassed desktop traffic in 2014. And now, 75% of shoppers search the web via mobile while walking through a store, with 25% purchasing products from their mobile devices during their in-store experiences. No wonder so many CEOs have made mobile retail a top priority and plan to increase their mobile investments. And now, a new retail opportunity involves leveraging the power of localized mobile websites, mobile apps, and desktop e-commerce sites to enter into new domestic and international markets. To help retailers tap into this new opportunity to expand mobile e-commerce to underserved markets, RetailNext.com featured exclusive insights from Charles Whiteman, senior vice president of client services at MotionPoint Corporation, the world’s leading enterprise localization platform, which show what’s in store for mobile shopping.

Why Tablets Register for Mobile Shopping
Recent research has revealed enormous spikes in smartphone and tablet traffic, transactions, and commerce throughout the retail industry. Interestingly, tablets have higher average conversion rates and lower bounce back rates than smartphones. This shows that users simply browse for products on their smartphones, but use their tablets to return to websites to purchase. To make the most of tablets in mobile shopping, retailers should take the following steps:

  • Start launching mobile-friendly websites in a range of global markets.
  • Offer mobile-friendly product photos and descriptions to help shoppers decide which products to purchase.
  • Provide a localized mobile experience that features store locator functionality to drive shoppers to stores, which will boost in-store sales.

Social Media Pays Off in Mobile Shopping
With the explosion of smartphone usage over the past few years, social media adoption has exploded worldwide. Recent research has shown:

  • Almost 50% growth in Facebook traffic, which surpassed other social networks for dominance in many global markets.
  • Nearly 25% rise in Pinterest traffic, which corresponds to the increasing popularity of Pinterest in many overseas markets, especially China, Indonesia, and India.
  • Photo-based Instagram now claims more users than Twitter, with Instagram use in global markets yielding successful results.
  • Improvements in functionality in foreign social networks led to 30% more referral traffic from social media users, as well as 10% higher revenue.

Website Translation Services Open Up a World of Sales Opportunities
Mobile shopping increases a retailer’s reach from around the corner to around the world. And retailers can enhance the e-commerce experience by offering translated digital shopping experiences to global e-commerce consumers.

These translated digital experiences allow a retailer to expand into new international markets and engage the underserved consumers in these areas. There’s a huge desire for international brands from consumers in emerging countries, and research shows that the Internet is the fastest, easiest, and safest way for these consumers to procure products from international brands.

So for retailers looking to expand into new domestic and global markets, using translation services in global e-commerce can be incredibly helpful in gaining a world of international mobile consumers and sales.

Selling Seasonality in Global Markets
Global e-commerce sales typically improve at the end of the year and decline during the summer, but by learning about the unique seasonality and spending peaks in international markets, retailers can leverage seasonal shifts and promote the proper products through sales throughout the year. This requires savvy digital marketing that includes e-mail outreach to interest local shoppers, along with flash sales to prompt regular customers to return to a retailer’s website for savings. Seasonality marketing can also help retailers develop better inventory stocking strategies in their brick-and-mortar stores around the world.

Retailers should incorporate these insights into their mobile e-commerce strategies to ring up the best results.

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