As the high street continues to flounder, it has never been more important for retailers to optimise their online content across multiple platforms and devices to appeal to changing consumer consumption habits.
As Google eloquently put it, we are now living in a ‘Multi-Screen World,’ with 67% of people using multiple devices sequentially when shopping online. It is therefore vital that companies operating online evaluate their content strategies, whilst realising the importance of reliable access across devices. Both brands and retailers need to seriously consider their online strategy if they are to flourish in the rapidly evolving world of retail and eCommerce.
It is near impossible to predict the future of consumer purchasing behaviour, however today’s audiences are extremely mobile – consuming content at a rapid pace within an erratically changing economy. To fulfil revenue predictions and growth plans, online retailers must increase their digital footprint by utilising the potential of multi-screen technology with innovative and targeted content. It can be as simple as making your website mobile friendly, allowing you to reach your consumer base more effectively and efficiently.
The family PC and TV are no longer the centre of the home as consumers shop in different ways across different devices – and often turn to their specific choice of screen to fit their surrounding context. Mobiles are often the first point of reference during a consumer’s eCommerce experience and website accessibility can trigger spontaneous purchasing, making it imperative that retailers jump on the bandwagon.
A smooth and uninterrupted online experience is also essential to deliver retailers a filled shopping cart and a completed purchase. For example, ensure that your hosting service can support mobile traffic and seasonal changes in demand across channels. Likewise, consumers often move from one screen to another as they research their purchases. This again demonstrates the basic necessity for cross-screen optimisation of eCommerce sites, as well as a strong infrastructure, from mobile to PC.
Brands can essentially monetise consumer motivations and impulses through a varied and distributed retail model, utilising apps, interactive functions and innovative visual content. Ensuring websites can support these functions from a hosting perspective whilst also delivering consistently fast page loading times across devices will likely reduce the number of abandoned shopping carts. On average consumers spend more time researching a product online and comparing prices before purchasing, making it essential for content to be unique and appropriate to both the target audience and the device they are using.
Multi-device offerings are dramatically changing the retail landscape, arguably for the better. Retail websites should be viewed as an interactive catalogue with a limited number of complicated steps to purchase, to increase the chance of conversion. Apps are a valuable tool when meeting this requirement and form a key element within a distributed eCommerce model, while also promoting quick, simple and reliable access on a smartphone, laptop or tablet.
Brands and retailers that are embracing the power of multi-screen and smart content will be leading the eCommerce revolution and the ‘store of the future.’ With 90% of all our media interactions now being screen based, it has never been so important.
By Mark King, EMEA Channel Leada at Peer 1 Hosting.
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