Mobile Shopping Report Shows Customers Frustrated with Mobile Retailers

Tealeaf, provider of online and mobile customer experience management solutions and customer behavior analysis, released their Mobile Shopping Experience Report this week showing consumer experience to be the key factor in closing deals. The report revealed tweets about shopping with the top 35 mobile retailers jumped 217% over average on Black Friday while 41% of all online conversations implied shopper frustration with mobile shopping over the holidays thus far. Crimson Hexagon was used to conduct sentiment analysis of online conversations about mobile commerce concerning the top 25 mobile US retailers and top 10 European.

The Results

Although consumers are shopping more via mobile, the retailers are not living up to consumer expectations and have plenty of room for improvement. The consequences of providing a less than favorable online experience for customers include less revenue, poor reviews and a risk of loosing repeat customers for good.

“The stakes have never been higher for retailers to deliver a great experience on mobile platforms. However, this report shows that even the most successful mobile retailers are leaving money on the table by not addressing the things that can cause mobile shoppers to struggle and abandon. The data indicates a steep learning curve for retailers as they continue to optimize their mobile channels for a new set of customer experience challenges.” – said Geoff Galat, Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Tealeaf.

Harris Interactive Study Comparison

A recent Harris Interactive Study found supporting results. The study showed 85% of consumers who have conducted a mobile transaction in the last year expect the experience on their mobile device to be better than on a computer, and 63% of users would be less likely to buy again from a company online given another option if they had a problem with the first.

The Numbers: 

More than half (58%) of the negative conversations about mobile shopping with the leading mobile retailers focused specifically on customer struggle issues, including payment problems and search-and-sort problems; one-fifth (21%) called out features that would have made the experience easier for them but weren’t available.

Mobile channels are changing where and when consumers do their holiday shopping, with many getting a jump on Black Friday by shopping Thanksgiving Day or power shopping in-store and via their mobile devices at the same time.

While more than one-third (36%) of the positive conversations praised mobile features and functionality, less than one-fifth (17%) stated mobile apps/sites were easy to use.

Online conversations highlight top positives of mobile commerce, such as convenience, ease of use, time savings and instant deals. 

More than half (58%) were exuberant about their mobile shopping experience, like this happy customer 

Real Online Commentary

“Made a Black Friday sale purchase on _____ store app earlier today. It was so convenient and quick. Walked by the store, way crowded.”

“Oh what cyber Monday? Hello _____ app (;”

 ”YES. I’m in line at _____. And refreshing my _____ app for black Friday sales at the same time. #comeatmebro #BlackFriday #pleasejudgeme”

“Went to _____ for black Friday… Ended up getting on my ____ app and ordering 3 seasons of Mad Men for $27 instead”

“Wow, just did half my #Christmas shopping on the bus, using my #iPhone _____ app. #ihearttech #blackfridaybedamned”

“_____ mobile is down. Not letting me checkout. CS says it’s a known problem. On BlackFriday? I just missed two deals!!”

“#______ mobile site does not allow me to filter or advance pages on their sale page and provides no option to browse regular site #yam #fail”

Source: MarketWire