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Last year £7.5 billion was spent through smartphones and tablets, accounting for 12 per cent of the £62.4 billion of total e-retail sales, according to new research.
The etail trade association said the figures revealed a significant rise in sales through smartphones and tablets, up from 4% in 2011 in its IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking report.
Mobile sales growth throughout the year was consistently around 300 per cent, the report noted.
“2012 is regarded by many as the year mobile truly arrived and these figures certainly justify that claim. Sales via mobile devices have tripled in the space of a year,” said Tina Spooner, IMRG’s chief information officer.
“While we are starting to see a levelling off in the growth of both sales and visits, one in eight sales and one in five visits were through mobile devices in 2012 and conversion rates continue to rise.”
However, the performance of mobile e-retail did not quite meet expectations in terms of both visits and sales.The year began very well and it looked like they could have reached 20 per cent of transactions by the end of 2012, but instead it tailed off.
Chris Webster, vice president, consumer products and retail at Capgemini, said: “The slowdown of sales made on a smartphone suggests there is an issue with the customer experience retailers are offering.
“If retailers are to reinvigorate the level of adoption, they must recognise the difference in the mobile channels and build specific customer experiences for the smartphone.”
TweetUS consumers are more satisfied with ecommerce companies than ever before, according to a new report.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) produced in partnership with the customer analytics experience firm ForeSee, showed ecommerce sites making incremental gains in customer satisfaction ratings.
Consumer satisfaction with ecommerce websites rose 1.2% to 81.1 from 80.1 in 2011, on ACSI’s 100-point scale. The report is based on a survey of 4,000 consumers in the fourth quarter by the ACSI and research firm ForeSee.
Amazon retained its spot at the very top of the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Ranking at 85 out of 100, Amazon’s score actually dropped by 1 percent from the year before, but the figure still puts the company ahead of competitors like Newegg, eBay, Overstock, and Netflix.
“They really do a great job,” Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee said. “They’ll go up a point or down a point, but they’re always on top. That’s no small feat. They continue to grow their strength in retail. [Amazon] really is the game that everybody else is chasing for the most part.”
“Brick and mortar retailers are not conceding the Internet to online natives such as Amazon,” Freed added. “They are investing heavy resources in providing a better experience for their customers, providing more evidence that competition is good for the consumer.”
A key element of Amazon’s success in customer satisfaction is to offer streamlined online payments that don’t require shoppers to fill in multiple pages of account information. Click here for more ways on how to improve the sign-up process.
TweetOnline auction site eBay has revised its global mobile commerce forecast and predicts that it will generate more than $20 billion (£13.2bn) in mobile sales volume this year.
Last year its global mobile sales reached $13 billion, double that of 2011, and far exceeding its forecast of $10 million from 2012.
It also revealed that more than four million new customers joined eBay via mobile devices last year, and that nearly one in three transactions made on eBay today are now influenced by mobile at some point during the shopping journey.
“Just four years ago, mobile commerce had barely taken off. Now we’re expecting to see over $20bn worth of sales in just one year, demonstrating the huge opportunity that mobile presents,” said Olivier Ropars, eBay’s senior director of mobile.
“Consumers now carry a global store in their pocket and our research shows they check their mobiles around 40 times a day. That’s 40 opportunities for retailers to engage with potential customers, while the ability to shop on the move increases the likelihood to spend.
The statement follows the announcement that over four million new customers joined eBay via mobile devices last year, increasing listings of more than three million being added via mobile every week.
TweetA new study from The Royal Mail’s MarketReach initiative has looked into the role of printed catalogues in the digital age, analysing how catalogues can help drive ecommerce sales.
The research found that 60% of people go online to make a purchase within a week of receiving a printed catalogue. And that more than half of consumers will spend over £40 on their first purchase, indicating that companies overlooking catalogues could be missing out on valuable sales.
The MarketReach study found that for over 50% of people, catalogues are a convenient way to review products. More than a third of people, (36%) said it allows them to compare products before a purchase.
Over 70% of consumers keep catalogues in their homes for over a month and 34% for up to a year.
When they go online, consumers with catalogues were found to look at more than double the number of pages viewed by the average person per visit (121%). They also spend 109% more time on any given website than the average site visitor.
Jonathan Harman, Managing Director for MarketReach said: “The report shows the harnessing power of physical communications including direct mail and their distinctive ability to engage consumers and drive digital activity. Retailers who overlook the role of catalogues in online shopping behaviour could be missing out on sales. Catalogues drive online sales by creating product awareness, recruiting new customers and building brand loyalty.”
Royal Mail launched MarketReach last year to help companies and their agencies get more value from mail.
TweetUK smartphone owners are gaining more confidence when spending through mobile devices, according to research from performance marketing company Intela.
This year’s ‘Intela Mobile Consumer Report’, which polled 1,000 smartphone owners in the UK and another 1,000 in the US, discovered that over half of smartphone owners in the UK were happy to spend over £10 on their phones.
It was also found that 44 per cent of US consumers and 40 per cent of UK consumers are now more likely to make a purchase through their mobile device than they were a year ago, and that 36 per cent of Americans and 27 per cent of UK consumers found email to be the trigger for making mobile purchases.
Other findings from the survey include that retail goods are the most popular mobile purchases (UK 40%; US 47%), followed by lifestyle and entertainment products (UK 22%; US 39%) and travel offers (UK 17%; US 23%).
Guénolé Le Gall, head of mobile for Intela commented: “Generally people decide to make purchases for two reasons, the first being urgent need and the second, irrational passion. Mobile performance marketing responds particularly well to the ‘irrational passion’ mind-set, tapping into people’s aspirations, such as wanting a holiday or the latest gadget.
“For businesses wishing to capitalise on the rising tide of M-commerce but still remain cautious about investing in the space, mobile performance marketing represents a win-win situation. Firstly, mobile performance marketing solutions have proved to be effective at garnering responses from consumers and more importantly, businesses only have to pay for secured leads or tangible results that are generated on the back of mobile performance campaigns.”
Check out these top tips for cashing in on mobile ecommerce.
TweetThe Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has urged organisations to review their policies on how personal data is handled, after the Nursing and Midwifery Council was issued a £150,000 civil monetary penalty for breaching the Data Protection Act.
The council, which said it was “disappointed” with the ICO’s decision, lost three DVDs which related to a nurse’s misconduct hearing. An investigation found that the DVDs, which contained confidential personal information and evidence from two vulnerable children, had not been encrypted.
David Smith, deputy commissioner at the ICO said: “The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s underlying failure to ensure these discs were encrypted placed sensitive personal information at unnecessary risk.
“No policy appeared to exist on how the discs should be handled, and so no thought was given as to whether they should be encrypted before being couriered. Had that simple step been taken, the information would have remained secure and we would not have had to issue this penalty.”
The ICO urged organisations to take more care when handling personal data.
“It would be nice to think that data breaches of this type are rare, but we’re seeing incidents of personal data being mishandled again and again,” Smith added.
“While many organisations are aware of the need to keep sensitive paper records secure, they forget that personal data comes in many forms, including audio and video images, all of which must be adequately protected.
The ICO deputy commissioner stressed that organisations need to enforce robust policies when it comes to proper protection of data.
“I would urge organisations to take the time today to check their policy on how personal information is handled. Is the policy robust? Does it cover audio and video files containing personal information? And is it being followed in every case? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then the organisation risks a data breach that damages public trust and a possible weighty monetary penalty.”
TweetNew research reveals women could be more likely to embrace online shopping than their male counter parts.
The Future of Online Retail report from Vouchercodes.co.uk polled over 2,000 adults on their online shopping habits and has revealed some interesting differences in the shopping habits of the different sexes.
When men and women were asked what they have never purchased online across clothes, groceries, furniture, beauty products, holidays, electronics and entertainment, 1 in 5 women (19 per cent) said they had in fact purchased all of these products online at some point, while just 13 per cent of men stated they had.
The biggest gender divide appears when it comes to buying clothes online: almost a third of the men questioned in the study said that they had never bought an item of clothing through a website, compared to the 81 per cent of women, who have splashed out on fashion items online.
When it comes to items men and women say they will never buy online in the future, women once again seem less inclined to say no to online shopping whilst men are more reticent. Half of women (50 per cent) say they will shop online in the future when it comes to the likes of clothes, beauty products, holidays, furniture, entertainment, electronics and groceries. However, just four in ten men (42 per cent) say this is the case.
Max Jennings, co-founder of VoucherCodes.co.uk comments: “The Future of Online Retail shows that women in particular have embraced online retail and are more inclined to make purchases across a large range of product categories. Whilst male shoppers have traditionally been considered the early adopters of ecommerce, it is clear women have very much embraced online shopping and are keen to take advantage of solutions such as apps that offer targeted rewards and discounts.
By using insight, brands can understand who is shopping online taking into account factors such as gender, age and lifestyle.
TweetUK express ecommerce delivery network Shutl will be launching their ‘same hour’ delivery services in the United States this month.
Shutl, which is currently, used by big UK high street stores Argos, Aurora Fashions and B&Q, revealed that it is now ready to launch within 12 metro areas of the United States and Canada this year.
Shutl works using an algorithm which matches orders with potential couriers, taking into consideration the cost, location, user-generated rating and when the customer wants their item delivered. The customer is then able to receive their shopping within as little as 90 minutes or within a 1-hour window of their choice.
Shutl chief executive Tom Allason said that Amazon and Walmart’s moves to offer same day delivery in the US had sped up the process of launching in the US. Allason believes that by the end of this year, the US market could be larger or the company than the UK.
Allason said: “It makes sense for us to get moving in the US and we are very pleased to have secured the funding after receiving a lot of interest in investment.
“The 12 cities we are launching in have a population of 90 million people. In the UK we can reach 45 million people across 50 towns so there’s a lot of scope for growth.”
Allason said that the partnership with global business E Ventures would allow Shutl to look at new markets including Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
This announcement follows the news that over 70% of American consumers wouldn’t deal with a company again if they failed to deliver an item in a reasonable time.
TweetRomford has been declared the UK’s ‘Capital of love’, following research on the number of cards posted in the run-up to Valentine’s Day.
The Royal Mail found the Romford sorting office experienced the biggest boost in mail volumes ahead of the occasion last year.
The Royal Mail analysed letter volumes in mail centres from February 13th 2012. The findings show people living in the RM, E and IG postcodes, covered by the Romford Mail Centre, sent 24.44% more mail, including Valentine’s Day cards than the same day the week before (February 6th 2012). That is over 21% more than the national average increase of 3.43%.
Steve Molloy, delivery director for Essex, said: ‘Love is definitely in the air in Romford and across the East London region as our research shows residents are eager to express their love through traditional Valentine’s Day cards. We’re delighted to declare Romford the UK’s ‘Capital of Love’.”
Steve added: ‘Valentine’s Day is one of our busiest times of the year and we would always encourage people to post their cards early, with a full address and postcode, so their messages of love and romance will arrive on time.’
Make sure your card arrives to the right address with our free address finder tool.
TweetA new study from NetProspex reveals that over half of B2B companies are using unreliable contact and company data in their marketing and sales programs.
The B2B Marketing Data Benchmark Report reviewed the marketing records from companies in a variety of industries with revenues ranging from $1 million to more than $1 billion. The survey accessed companies on a five-point data health scale, with five being the highest, in four areas: record duplication, record completeness, phone number data and email deliverability.
The study found that more than half had an overall score below 2.7, putting their data in the category of “risky” or “unreliable.” Only 2% of the companies polled reported having “functional” databases.
“This report demonstrates that companies of all types and size struggle with maintaining data health,” said Gary Halliwell, CEO of NetProspex.
“The implications of a bad database on marketing and sales performance are felt in wasted time, money, and resources. We hope this report provides not only a benchmark for companies to use in evaluating their own data management, but also inspiration to elevate their data hygiene practices.”
NetProspex’s study is based on an analysis throughout 2012 of its customer and prospect databases, containing more than 35 million contacts.
Click here to find out more information and tools to help you improve your data quality.
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