Mobile Commerce and the 2014 Holiday Season

The 2014 holiday ecommerce season is living up to the hype. In early November, IBM projected online sales to increase 15% over the 2013 sales for the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday. The actual numbers were much higher. According to comScore data published on December 2, 2014, ecommerce spending increased a whopping 24%.

While this increase in ecommerce spending is significant, the industry is also seeing mobile take on an even greater role. Data from Cyber Monday indicates that 41% of online retail traffic in the US came from smartphones and tablets. In addition to conducting research, more consumers are making purchases; IBM reports that 22% of purchases on Cyber Monday were made from a mobile device.

Mobile will continue to become more critical to achieving success, not only during the holiday season but throughout the year. As you evaluate your mobile optimization plans, ask:

• Can I future proof my mobile A/B testing options? The term mobile is broad and how retailers implement their mobile presence is varied. Recent discussions at IRCE and Shop.org indicate that there is no one way to implement mobile. In today’s mobile development world, you can choose from responsive design, m.dot, angular, single page apps, hybrid solutions, and native app implementations. Your technology choice and any future plans should not impact your A/B testing options.
• Can I easily deploy A/B tests for my mobile offerings? If your solution is a mobile site, a native application, or a combination of both, minimize barriers that may slow down your process. Review the ease with which your variations are created, your A/B tests are launched, and the impact of required approvals.
• Can I monitor my mobile KPIs alongside my site KPIs? KPI reporting allows you to communicate the results of your optimization program. In certain situations you may be A/B testing changes that impact both your full site and your mobile offering and you will want to evaluate the results in a single view.

How do you plan to A/B test mobile in 2015? Do the numbers we have seen so far for the holiday season to date impact any of those plans?

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