Convenience, Features Drive Selection of Retailer Sites Over Apps

August 2, 2012

This article is included in these additional categories:

Boomers & Older | Digital | Men | Mobile Phone | Retail & E-Commerce | Women | Youth & Gen X

adobe-mobile-site-preference-reasons-august-2012.pngFor mobile owners who prefer using a website than an application when shopping on their device, convenience/ease (39%) and additional features (21%) are the primary reasons for doing so, according to [pdf] a survey released in August by Adobe. Other reasons chosen for preferring a website include navigation (10%), look/feel (7%), speed (4%), security, and reliability (each at 3%).

Though the Adobe report does not specify whether mobile users overall prefer mobile websites to mobile apps, a March 2012 report from Nielsen found that during the 2011 holiday season, the top 5 retailer mobile websites had far greater reach among US smartphone owners than the top 5 retailer mobile applications, and that overall, smartphone owners of both genders preferred retailers’ mobile websites over their mobile applications.

Tablet Owners More Satisfied Shoppers

Data from Adobe’s “2012 Mobile Consumer Survey Results” indicates that when shopping on mobile websites for consumer products, iPad users reported the highest satisfaction levels, at 75%, followed by Amazon Kindle users (73%), iPhone users (66%), Android tablet users (66%) and Android smartphone users (60%).

Device owners who shop via mobile apps using Android tablets report the highest satisfaction, at 88%, followed by iPad users (71%), Android smartphone users (69%), and iPhone users (66%).

Product Info, Comparisons Assist Mobile Purchases

When asked what information is most helpful when purchasing a product on a mobile website or app, product information and price was the top choice, at roughly 3 in 5 respondents, followed by easy checkout and customer ratings/reviews, each with a slight majority. More than one-third of respondents also said that visual information, the option to purchase using the website or app, and keyword search for products are also helpful.

Asked what visual features increase the likelihood of making a purchase on a mobile device, close to half cited product side-by-side comparisons, followed by a 360-degree spin, zoom/pan, alternative images, and videos.

According to a Limelight Networks survey released in November 2011, 68% of mobile shoppers reported that the availability of detailed product images on the site, such as “zoom in” product photography or product videos, was an either important or extremely important feature of their mobile shopping experience.

Other Findings:

  • According to the Adobe report, mobile users report that a majority of advertisers are providing mobile-optimized experiences when they click through ads on both mobile websites (73%) and mobile apps (77%).
  • A high percentage of mobile users surveyed say that they are clicking through mobile ads presented in both mobile websites and apps, with 42% clicking through ads on mobile websites, and 37% clicking through ads on mobile apps.
  • Men are more likely to click through on mobile ads presented within apps than women (42% vs. 32%).
  • Mobile owners of each age group identified are more likely to have spent $1-$249 on consumer product purchases via a mobile device than any other amount in the past 12 months. The 18-29 group was the most likely of any age group to have spent this amount, followed by the 30-49 and 50-64 age groups. The age pattern was reversed when it came to larger outlays, though: the oldest group was more likely than the younger groups to have spent more than $750 on their devices in the past year.

About The Data: Adobe surveyed more than 1,200 mobile users in the US in March 2012. The survey was administered by Keynote Services, and categorized preferences based on gender and age.

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