Insights

2017 is the year mobile truly dominates

How accurate is your guess at how many millennials research purchases on their phone?

According to recent statistics, in 2017 it’s expected that there will be 19.4 million mobile phone users in Australia. And while we’re still referring to this powerful device as a mobile phone, we’re using them to do much more than make phone calls. Here we take a look at just how dominant mobile phones and devices are going to be in the year ahead and how your business can benefit from the western world’s addiction to mobile phones.

The massive ecommerce market for mobile

By 2018, Australia is expected to have an ecommerce market worth $24 billion. For the year 2015, 35% of ecommerce transactions were completed on a mobile device. If your business is in retail and you’re not already using responsive web design on your ecommerce website, you need to transition to a mobile-friendly website now in order to take advantage of this growing market.

While the 2015 figures are ‘only’ at 35%, that’s simply for the final transaction. When the customer journey is examined, analysts at Internet Retailer estimate that consumers have spent approximately 70% of the time browsing on a mobile phone, even if the final ecommerce transaction has taken place on another device or desktop. Shoppers are known as omni-channel consumers with six in 10 internet users starting the shopping process on one device, but finishing on a difference one.

Our personal shopping assistants

If shoppers aren’t using their mobile phones to make online purchases, a growing number of customers are using their smartphone’s location services to find the shops and services they need that are closest to them and research has shown that up to 40% of millennials research their intended purchases for goods and services on their mobile phones prior to purchase – and they’re often leaving a review of their purchase using their mobile phone as well.

Google’s own research has shown that mobile websites have more impact that television when it comes to advertising. More consumers visited a retailer’s mobile website, made a purchase, discussed retail brands and shared branded content or advertising as result of digital advertising on smartphones when compared to television advertising.

Getting mobile

The trends are clear and they apply beyond the ecommerce market. Google has announced that this year they are rolling out mobile-first indexing. Google will analyse the mobile version of your website before they look at the desktop version and they will be using the mobile version to assess the usability of your website. This data is then used in their SEO page-ranking algorithm. Responsive websites have always been a positive factor for good page rankings, but this year, mobile-ready websites are going to become a vital factor for SEO.

Getting your website mobile-ready doesn’t need to be a monumental task. iFactory designs responsive websites and mobile apps for businesses big and small – across a wide range of industries. For more information about responsive website design that meets the needs of your business and the expectations of your customers, contact us today.

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