Given the explosive growth of mobile commerce over the last year, retailers are challenged to present mobile shoppers with a streamlined, convenient experience. By optimizing e-Commerce sites to provide a flexible shopping experience for consumers on the go, retailers are able to cater to consumer demand.
Following the launch of a new mobile site in September 2010, Motorcycle Superstore has seen a steady increase in usage of the mobile site — an approximate 2-3% increase in visits in the first eight months. The company also reported that 4-6% of overall site traffic now comes from mobile devices, while 2-3% of daily revenue is driven by mobile shoppers. Visitors to the mobile commerce site spend an average of eight minutes, compared to 9.5 minutes on the standard web site.
Motorcycle Superstore, an online retailer specializing in motorcycle gear, parts and accessories, also found that 15% of its mobile site traffic comes from outside the U.S. Also, based on the company’s mobile shopping data, the Android platform is quickly catching up with the Apple platform, as 40% of all site traffic is Apple-based and 37% is Android-based.
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Mobile Site Designed To Solve Usage Issues
The impetus for the launch of the new mobile site at Motorcycle Superstore came following a report that a growing number of web site visitors were entering the traditional site from their mobile devices.
In 2010, the eTailer sought to develop a mobile optimized site to boost business and the overall customer experience. The company made this decision after learning that mobile web visitors were having difficulty purchasing products on the traditional web site.
To build the new site, Motorcycle Superstores turned to its site search provider SLI Systems. Knowing that most mobile shoppers typically research products and information on mobile phones (rather than purchase), Motorcycle Superstore built its site to deliver valuable information quickly to its fast-paced mobile shoppers.
SLI Systems created all aspects of the site search and faceted refinements on the search pages. SLI used Motorcycle Superstore’s product data feed to create the site search pages on the mobile site. SLI also created refinement options on search results pages, presented with links to save space, as well as thumbnail product images designed to load faster.
Motorcycle Superstore created its mobile site to be streamlined without numerous images and text that could slow down load times. The search box and navigation features are focal points of the site, designed to make it easy for users to quickly narrow in on a specific item.
