mobile commerce

[candyvfowler]

I have a PR8 store and we are considering adding mobile commerce capabilities to this store. e-Business Express has been helping me understand this new idea. However, I would really like to hear from anyone that has been working with their module or any other module that works. We have an extremely busy site (administratively) so I'm not sure how much more I want to add to my responsibilities. Is there anyone out that that has or is working with mobile commerce and Miva? I would really like your advice and as much information that you are willing to provide to help me make this decision.
Thanks, Candy

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

Hi Candy: Miva created our mobile site. Took only a few days from the request to completion. We took their solution and tweaked it a bit for our needs.
We were also able to take their solution and apply it to our two other sites without their assistance.
You can view the result on a smart phone at www.rvparksupplies.com.

Larry

[wcw]

Re: mobile commerce

Larry,

What percentage of your sales are going through the mobile interface?

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

Hi Bill: Very very low. <1%. I have tracking installed on our mobile pages using your smtp function, so I can see when the mobile site is visited. There is significant browsing being done on SFNT, CTGY. & PROD pages mostly, but almost nothing into and thru checkout. The majority of visitors getting into checkout, abandon after getting partway thru.

I also have goal funnels for mobile defined in Google Analytics which allows me to see exactly on which pages visitors are abandoning.

A surprising number of visitors come between midnight & early morning. I'm guessing they are just bored smart phone owners passing the time, not real shoppers.

The mobile traffic however is probably only 10% or less of the non mobile visits. Since I'm tracking with the smtp function, I can see via the email timestamps that a good number of visitors are not abandoning immediately, they seem to be window shopping.

I also get email notifications for ipad visits via smtp. However, they don't see the mobile version. They comprise a fair portion of our mobile traffic, maybe 50%.

I'm still happy that we popped for the Miva mobile solution. I think it's wise to cover all bases. And as I said, I used their solution for our first site to do our other two sites myself. It's really pretty easy once you see how Miva does it. Just cut & paste + tweak.

Regards, Larry

[wcw]

Re: mobile commerce

Are you using the tool kit's feature for saving the basket to their email address? If so, you might want to make yourself a CC on those and see how many save in mobile, then come back to your full store to restore and complete the purchase. As Geeky (is that a word) as I am, I still have trust issues with Facebook and Mobile purchases.

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

Hi Bill: I am using the savebask feature with cc to us on our non-mobile (is this the opposite of a mobile site?) site and on our Facebook app. I have not retrofitted it to our mobile site yet.

Since the mobile conversion agreement we entered into with Miva included only the standard Miva pages, it has been my task to add the non-mobile site's enhanced features and pages to our mobile solution and I have not yet gotten to the save/restore basket feature.

Bill, regarding saving the basket for later retrieval on a purchaser's computer. Possibly our situation is different than yours. Since our store sells hard goods that must be shipped, there is no advantage to saving the basket and then purchasing on a different device. In your case a customer may prefer to order via the device they are going to installed the software on. Are you experiencing that?

I'm curious about your trust issues with Facebook and mobile. Have you had bad experiences?

Now for some controversy and opinion:
Regarding mobile devices and since I don't even have a cell phone let alone a smart phone (we do own an iPad however). I have this feeling that these devices are not essentially shopping devices for sites like ours but more for the built in stores (Apple app store, etc) where purchasing is simple and easy once you have established an account. Getting thru OCST, etc. must be a real pain with those tiny keyboards. Nothing like speaking from ignorance, eh. ;)

Regards, Larry

[wcw]

Re: mobile commerce

I look at mcommerce as a way to browse/shop during those times when
1) you are bored and have nothing to do
2) you are not at home where your computer is
3) commuting (subway, train, bus, carpool, etc)
4) you see a billboard or some other advertising that peaks your interest in a product
As you can see there are many occasions when someone might shop your store via phone. But in many situations they may not be where they feel comfortable getting out their credit card and punching in the numbers on that tiny keyboard. Hence, they can save the basket for later.

I have not had any bad experiences because I have not used my CC on either FB or Mobile. The issues with privacy and unregulated apps keeps me from doing it on FB. I do have a smartphone and I use it frequently for more than just phone calls. I don't have the virus protection (McAfee, Kapersky, Norton, Webroot, etc) on my smartphone like I have on my PC. My PC gets full scans three times a week and continuous protection is turned on. So while I am ok with sending/receiving emails or reading my social feed, I am not ready to enter my banking info into that platform. I suspect I am not the only one. Hence, saving the basket to an email is a great option.

There is no particular reason why a customer would save their basket to email in one store and not another. For example, in my store, if they do order while on the road, the software module is delivered to their email. They could install the module from their phone or wait til they get to their computer. It would be cumbersome via the phone. But I don't think that would prevent them from making the purchase on their phone. I think customers have the same trust issues I have with FB or Mobile. I have not tracked what device the purchase is made from. I do get quite a few CCs of the save basket to email. But they could be doing that for a variety of reasons.
1) trust issues with FB or Mobile
2) not ready to purchase but want to retrieve the products easily when they are ready later
3) saving the basket so someone else (e.g. the purchasing department) can retrieve it and complete the purchase
4) simply don't want to fool with that tiny keyboard on the OCST page

[Rick Wilson]

Re: mobile commerce

It's funny, my version of Bill's experience is similar.

I browse on my phone and then email myself links of things I want to purchase when I get back to my Laptop or Desktop.

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

That's encouraging, since our mobile site's Google funnel visualization from BASK to INVC is 10%.

Larry

[wcw]

Re: mobile commerce

Give that 90% you are losing an easy way to retrieve the basket when they get home. Save basket to their email address using the Emporium Plus Tool Kit function for doing that.

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

Hi Bill Good advice! Going to get to that, got a lot of irons in the fire here.
Regards, Larry

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

Hi Bill: Added the toolkit save basket to the last of our mobile sites tonight. Thanks for the "poke" on doing this.
Not sure that I like the format I'm using though. Would like to see someone else's implementation for comparison.
Can anyone suggest a site that has it installed so I can take a peek?

Thanks, Larry

[koala]

Re: mobile commerce

I'm going to try and get this implemented soon, Larry. I'll post here once I have our version up.

[wajake41]

Re: mobile commerce

Hi Dylan: I'm Looking forward to your solution.
Larry

[wcw]

Re: mobile commerce

I finally got off my butt and started working on a mobile version of Emporium Plus. I put it in one of my test stores in no time at all and it worked perfectly. But when I got to the live store; brick wall. I am having session ID issues. Someone else looked at the store with an iphone and they didn't have any problem. But I am on an android and it is not cooperating. I changed all the links to secure so the session ID is sent with each click or form post. I can get as far as the OSEL page, but when I click continue, it says the session has timed out.

If some of you could take a look and tell me if it is working for you, I'd appreciate it. http://www.emporiumplus.com/SFNT.html If you actually need a module and place the order through your mobile device, there are 100 bonus points that will be posted to your account. The bonus points will be available for awhile as I work through these issues. The miscellaneous pages (contact us, etc) are still blank.