In a busy and complex world, where everyone and everything is connected by technology, experiences matter more than ever. Usability directly impacts the quality of an experience, while great experiences create the loyalty and trust that enable brands to grow and companies to thrive. Usablenet’s mission is to be a strategic partner to clients by creating and delivering great experiences across all channels.
| 26 APRIL 2012 |
Mobile Entertainment
ME cross platform month: The Carphone m-shopping project
How the UK retailer used tools to create mobile sites that glue an 'on the go' experience to in-store shopping. If you're the number one phone retailer in the UK, it's a good idea to have a decent mobile site. One that not only gives plenty of information in a pleasing user interface, but also supports genuine transactions for the growing number of consumers that are content - eager even - to buy products from a handset. Carphone Warehouse came to this realisation last year, when it saw that 15 per cent of its desktop site traffic had been coming from mobile users. Here was an army of consumers crying out for a fully optimised mobile experience. CPW addressed the issue by turning to Usablenet, whose cloud-based platform also powers mobile-commerce sites for Boots, Mothercare, Tesco, JD Sports, O2, Marks & Spencer and more. But the system also gives CPW the freedom to deliver mobile-only campaigns that drive m-commerce and traffic. Moreover, All mobile activity is integrated into existing analytics systems.
Usablenet’s platform automatically detects the type of phone accessing the site and applies a series of steps on-the-fly that results in an optimised screen view tailored to it.
The content is dynamically mapped from the CPW desktop site, so CPW is able to deliver an experience that is consistent across mobile channels, and could has the potential to output for web, mobile apps, tablet web, tablet apps, Facebook, kiosks, and more. The end result was an HTML5 mobile site lets customers make purchases, pick plans, add accessories, organise delivery/pick-up – and even complete credit checks – wherever they are. Meanwhile, just days ago, the mobile site was updated to include support for Mobile Money Network’s “Simply Tap” one-click product purchases. Simply Tap is a mobile checkout tool that lets consumers make purchases by typing in a numeric or capturing a QR code displayed on an ad, poster, in-store POS or even the product itself. Previously it had only been available from its own app, but CPW became the first third party to incorporate it into a mobile website. But that's just the commerce stuff. The mobile website also comprises a bunch of complementary features to drive product enquiries and store visits. So, for example, the site offers a ‘Find store near me’ feature using GPS and filtered searchable menus containing info on phones, tablets, plans, and packages. This is important as CPW's ultimate vision is site that can bind together the whole consumer 'journey' from in the home to on the move to in the store. The results were more or less instant. Victoria Self, Carphone Warehouse's director of eCommerce, said: "Within the first couple days of going live, we saw a major spike in traffic and achieved a conversion rate of nearly half of our desktop rate – a great achievement. We were thrilled and will continue enhancing the site to deliver the best mobile experience to our customers.” Traffic-wise, the percentage of total visits coming to the site from mobile devices rose from 15 per cent to 20 per cent in the first two weeks after launch. Year on year the rise was 50 per cent. What's more, there appears to be no cannibalisation: the mobile traffic is highest at commuting times and also after 9pm - in front of the TV or in bed. Equally pleasing for CPW was the order conversion numbers. There is a notion that mobile users are uneasy about completing a transaction across a handset, but it hasn't proved the case. Mobile conversions currently at roughly 50 per cent of the desktop conversion rate. Most gratifyingly, 13 per cent of total orders were 'delivery to store' - justifying CPW's faith that mobile will be the glue that binds 'research and purchase' journeys between web and stores. |
