The top five pitfalls to avoid when building a mobile business – Part 3

Do you subscribe to the generally held theory that customers use their mobiles to search for products and services rather than purchase them? And, as a result, is your mobile strategy one of “ticking the box” rather than staying the course? We conclude our series with two more traps many people fall into, and how to avoid them so you can optimise your mobile business offering.

Pitfall #4: Assuming a browse versus buy mentality

There’s a common misconception that mobile is used purely for research and not a conversion tool. However, across most parts of the world, mobile now accounts for more than half of the online transactions, and in-app sales dominate.1 APAC advertisers with a shopping app generated an incredible 75 per cent of transactions via app or mobile web.2

For SME operators looking to increase revenue on mobile, there is big opportunity in mobile deals. We see from our data that in the travel space, seven in 10 mobile hotel bookings come from deals. In Australia for example, 88 per cent of travellers are looking for deals on mobile and new research released by PayPal shows the rise in impulse buying on mobile amongst Aussies (with 77 per cent of mobile window shoppers actually impulse buying). The use of deals is high for customers across the globe, up to 91 per cent for American and Canadian travelers, 88 per cent for Chinese and Brits, 80 per cent for the Japanese, 70 per cent for the French and 68 per cent for Germans. Enticing travellers with mobile-exclusive deals, such as double Expedia Reward Points from in-app purchases continues to play to traveler preferences.

Even if mobile is not the final platform for the transaction, cross-device compatibility is just as important to influence customers throughout their journey. In order to engage travellers, your platforms need to complement each other to allow for cross browser, cross device and cross session shopping.3 According to Criteo, nearly one third of all cross-device transactions begin with a smartphone and cross-device buyers are fairly evenly represented across the three primary purchase devices: smartphone (28 per cent), tablet (36 per cent) and desktop (31 per cent).4

Pitfall #5 The set and forget approach

Let’s face it – SMEs are under the pump, and the constant innovations in technology that make things easy for consumers can sometimes actually put more of a squeeze on the company’s resources. As a result, very often, SMEs fall into the trap of establishing a great mobile business strategy but then crossing it off the list and failing to continually test, learn and evolve.

It might sound like more work, but instead, we’re seeing savvy hoteliers really utilising the assets of their technology partners to get big results for little input – something that other industries could look to replicate.

As an example, our Partner Central mobile app allows hotel partners to better manage their business across Expedia Group’s portfolio of travel brands and supports hotel’s engagement with their guests anytime, anywhere. Critical data provided on-the-go helps them stay competitive with real-time insights about the market, allows them to read and respond instantly to feedback from guests and receive important notifications with time-sensitive information. Similarly, innovations in hotel operations, with tools like mobile check-in and check-out keeps hotels up-to-date with the ever-changing traveller expectations.

Technology is transforming the entire customer journey and the way customers interact with brands, so staying at the forefront of that change is critical in growing your business.

Alejandro Moxey, Director – Market Management Australia, Expedia Group

1 Criteo, Q1 2018.
2 Criteo, Q1 2018.
3 Expedia Group Travel Shopping Across Devices research, October 2012
4 Criteo State of Cross-Device Commerce Report 2016