10 million online consumers in the UK made a transaction using a mobile device in the last year but, in what should be a convenient and simple way to shop, 83% of these experienced problems when conducting such mobile transactions, according to a new poll.
The survey commissioned by Tealeaf and conducted online by Harris Interactive, reveals that, as smartphone adoption grows, consumers are increasingly expecting a faultless experience across all online channels, including mobile, with 75% of all online adults agreeing there is no reason why a mobile transaction can’t be completed on the first try.
This has a significant impact for brands, with 66% saying, if they experienced a problem conducting a mobile transaction, they would be less likely to buy from the same company via other purchase channels.
While shopping is the most popular mcommerce activity (63%), mobile savvy consumers are also using mobile devices to conduct financial transactions (37%), travel bookings (34%) and insurance payments or purchases (23%).
On average, mobile shoppers completed 4.4 transactions on a mobile device per month, with consumers evenly split over whether they prefer to conduct transactions using an app (43%) or an internet browser (41%).
Expectations are high
Despite mcommerce being a relatively new retail channel, the simplicity and user-friendliness of mobile devices such as the iPhone means that consumer expectations are high.
Just over half of British adults who have conducted a mobile transaction in the past year said they expect a better shopping experience on a mobile device compared to purchasing in-store (51%) or online using a computer (52%).
Among the problems experienced were error messages (34%) and navigation difficulties (24%).
As with other online channels, if things do go wrong, the Tealeaf research shows consumers are impatient: when asked how they would react after experiencing a problem, 30% of British adults who have experienced mobile commerce problems in the last year said they would abandon the transaction on their mobile device and try again later on a computer, 13% would switch to a competitor’s app or website, and nearly one in ten (9%) would vow never to conduct a mobile transaction ever again! Just under a quarter (23%) said they would call customer service and 58% of all British adults who have conducted a mobile transaction in the past year said if they did, they would expect the agent to have visibility into what they were attempting to do on the app or mobile webpage.
Sharing experiences
When consumers have problems with mobile transactions, they do not keep their experience to themselves.
More than four in five adults who experience problems conducting mobile transactions (86%) said they have shared their mobile transaction experience with others and 49% of these said they had shared experiences via social media. When those who experience problems complain on social networks, 27% said they would expect a response from the vendor.
Among all mobile shoppers who experience problems, 61% said they would tell their friends and family about it to discourage them from using that app/website or doing business with the company.
“Everyone talks about the momentum in the mobile channel and customers continue to show an increasing appetite for carrying out transactions on these devices,” said Geoff Galat, CMO of Tealeaf. “The research shows consumers are increasingly expecting the same high levels of customer experience they would on other online channels. But, at present, mobile consumers find the convenience of transacting anywhere is offset by unsatisfying and unproductive experiences. Mobile consumers are no more willing to tolerate poor experiences than customers accessing websites from their desktops.”
Survey Methodology
This Mobile Transactions survey was conducted online within the United States and Great Britain by Harris Interactive on behalf of Tealeaf Technology between February 9-11, 2011 among 2,469 U.S. adults ages 18+ and between February 9-14, 2011 among 2,228 Great Britain adults ages 16+.
The U.S. data were weighted to be representative of the total U.S. adult population on the basis of region, age within gender, education, household income, and race/ethnicity. The Great Britain data were weighted to be representative of the total British adult population on the basis of region, age, sex, education, and income. Both sets of data were weighted to be representative of the population of online adults in each country.
A report including the full results of the study is available from the Tealeaf website: http://www.tealeaf.com/customer-experience-management/resource-center/register.php?doc=mobile-cem-uk
www.harrisinteractive.com.
www.tealeaf.com