5 Steps to Kickass Mobile Shopping Apps

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Mobile e-Commerce Apps Best Practices For Improving UX and Engagement

Transcript of 5 Steps to Kickass Mobile Shopping Apps

Mobile e-Commerce Apps Best Practices For Improving UX and Engagement

Global mobile commerce spend continues to grow year after year

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Designing an experience to

capture and convert mobile

shoppers is becoming vital to all

retailers.

•  How do customers discover your products?

•  What causes them to download your app?

•  What channels help increase basket size?

For example, leveraging social can be a major advantage: the average order

value from Instagram marketing is $65.00.

SOURCE: KISSMETRICS

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Understanding the full customer journey is crucial to

optimizing the user experience at each step

5. RETURN

Designing the best mobile eCommerce experience requires optimizing 5 key stages:

2. NAVIGATE

3. BROWSE

4. PURCHASE

1. ENTER

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Entry is the stage at the top of the funnel - getting

users into the app. It’s important here to remove all

barriers to usage and adoption of your mobile app.

Find ways to get users into the substance of the

app so that they can use and experience the value

of your service right away. Entry points in mobile

strategy include:

•  User Generated Content

•  Notifications

•  E-mail

•  Social

1. ENTER

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ASOS is a leading eCommerce retailer that has

designed customizable alerts for its shoppers

available on all platforms -- including the new

Apple watch. ASOS holds a rare 5-star review by

over 1000+ users in the App Store.

By making notifications visual and customizable,

ASOS adds value by reducing friction at the most

difficult conversion point: entry.

1. ENTER (continued)

CUSTOMIZED, VISUAL NOTIFICATIONS

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Once the user is in your app, having streamlined,

intuitive navigation is crucial for engagement and

retention. Nothing is more frustrating for a user

than not being able to find and accomplish what

they came to do.

Important elements in navigation include:

•  Menu drawer is accessible from all app levels

•  Advanced search filters are available

•  Lateral navigation that is sequential and

consistent

2. NAVIGATE

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Revolve Clothing provides one of the navigation, search, and filter mobile

experiences in eCommerce by focusing on:

1)  Linear browsing flow from left to right

2)  Clear navigation names

3)  Consistent search and filter tools

Users in the App Store rave about how easy it is to browse products in the

Revolve Clothing app and either save or purchase them intuitively based

on the icons and menus.

Revolve also makes great use of the screen real estate by using transparent

menus that overlay high-quality brand photos for seamless scrolling.

Wherever a user is in their browsing experience, Revolve makes it intuitive

and easy to navigate to any task they want to accomplish.

2. NAVIGATE (continued)

INTUITIVE, CONSISTENT FLOW

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Having quality product content in the app is crucial to

help users make purchase decisions. Without the right

content, chances of conversion are slim.

As more browsing occurs on smartphones and tablets,

creating content custom for these devices will improve

conversion. Important content elements to consider:

•  Variety of photos, from different angles to user

generated photos

•  Videos that exhibit product

•  Charts that provide detail on product specifications

•  User reviews

3. BROWSE

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Zappos is one of the leading retailers focused on helping

consumers better experience what they are about to buy.

To accomplish the best possible product browsing and

research experience, Zappos focuses on:

1)  Encouraging high quality product reviews

2)  Custom, in-depth product videos

3)  Photos of product at various angles

4)  Detailed sizing information

By providing comprehensive information in their mobile

app, Zappos consolidates all product content, preventing

users from needing to leave the app to search for

additional information.

3. BROWSE (continued)

DELIVER COMPLETE CONTENT

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The most crucial step in the funnel - the actual

conversion! Ensuring that this entire process is as

seamless and pain-free as possible. 50% of checkout

processes ask for information more than once - don’t

be one of them!

Important aspects of the purchase experience:

•  Storing known user information for repeat use

•  Have complete order information in summary

•  Decrease # of steps in checkout process

4. PURCHASE

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Amazon famously makes buying as simple as possible, from

introducing Prime to their new device Dash. Like Uber, Amazon

believes in seamless payments and accomplishes it through:

1)  Visual and voice search

2)  “Buy Now” Button as call to action

3)  One Click physical devices (i.e. Dash)

4)  Cross-device integration with iWatch

Making purchasing as easy as possible, Amazon removes the friction

and pain in the shopping cart analysis and credit card input process.

4. PURCHASE (continued)

ONE CLICK, SEAMLESS TRANSACTION

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Once the user completes the transaction (hooray -

conversion!), be sure to create opportunities for

the user to return and repeat the cycle.

After checkout is complete, hook the users by

showing them new content or having them opt

into notifications or reminders about products they

have previously saved or may purchase in the

future. Key aspects to consider:

•  Automatic product recommendations

•  Notifications and e-mail

•  New content and product features

4. RETURN

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Spring and Wanelo are two shopping apps that drive engagement

through fresh, quality content. According to research by Google, apps

that drive the highest engagement have the following key features:

1)  Appealing app design and aesthetic (57%)

2)  Always has new content (45%)

3)  Access to previous browsing behavior

4)  Delightful tone of voice

Categories such as “Discover”, “Trending”, “Magic”, “My Feed”, or

“Browse”, hook users by consistently delivering new content that is

unexpected. By including calls to action such as “Save For Later”, the

best eCommerce apps also create switching costs for users who want

to access previously favorited items that they may want to revisit.

5. RETURN (continued)

VARIETY AND DELIGHT HOOK USERS

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Keep these 5 steps and best practices in mind for designing the most engaging mobile app! For more tips, follow @pixlee.

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Pixlee @Pixlee usepixlee

Victoria Young

KPCB Product Fellow and MIT Sloan MBA with experience at the intersection of business, design, and technology.

Pixlee is a content marketing platform that helps brands leverage the content generated by their customers

to drive sales.

We work with over 100 customers, including top brands such as Kenneth Cole, Converse, UGG Australia,

Mattel, Charlotte Russe, Marriott Hotels, and AMC Theatres, to drive higher online conversion, increase

performance of owned media, and create a more authentic brand experience.

@victoriahyoung

ABOUT THE AUTHOR