The development of the modern smartphone has allowed most people access to a treasure trove of information and applications. From the first mobile phone, mobile technology has evolved in the past decade.
The abundance and utility of the mobile phone have led many to depend on the device. Many everyday activities are made convenient through smartphones. This is because of the continuous addition of new technology to our devices.
With the COVID-19 crisis, the medical community has requested that people stay at home. This means that people will be spending more time on the internet.
For business owners, this means adapting to the situation. This period has seen an increase in mobile usage. Websites will have to make sure that they are optimized for mobile viewing.
They’ll have to cater to customers who rely on their phones for everything they do.
The Google May Core update has made changes as well. Websites will benefit more from mobile optimization. Google will be ranking these sites higher on search results. This is Google’s way of understanding searchers and their habits.
So on this note, we’ve compiled 5 practices that will surely help you with your e-commerce.
Practices for Mobile E-Commerce
Customize experiences
Smartphone location-tracking accuracy has improved a lot. Businesses can better target specific regions for their products or services.
Does your business offer services (or products) to a specific region? Better make sure to update your business information. This way, people from your area will find you much faster.
Optimizing your business for local reach makes sure you get the most out of local searches. Google’s local pack would be a big help for your business.
The local pack is what gives you:
- “Stores near you” results.
- Reviews from other local customers
- Images associated with the business
For more far-reaching businesses, it’s a different story. Customize your pages to adapt to the searcher’s location. This allows you to present relevant products right away.
Say, a region is known to have large search queries on shoes. Using the device’s location, you can pinpoint the query. Next, present related products or services as the moment they enter your page. This makes it much easier for the viewers to find what they need.
Marketing, both formal and informal
With mobile devices, you have a host of applications that could be your channel to your customer. What this allows you are options to go for either formal or informal marketing.
With formal marketing, you are free to follow the original templates. Publish content that would market your products and services in a way that the average customer will understand.
The addition here would be the use of push notifications. Ever notice those notifications from some of your apps that appear when they have a promo?
That’ll be your business. This takes advantage of those impulsive buyers, giving you a larger conversion rate.
With informal marketing, you’re allowed a lot of room to operate. The language used here will be more colloquial. With this, the implication is that you build better relationships with the customer. This is because they feel that they can talk to you in their language.
This gives you the advantage of attacking from both sides of the field.
Efficient money management
Your customers’ convenience is bound to be a priority. Fortunately, money management has been so much easier with mobile devices at hand.
The amount of apps available to help with the financial side of things has grown in recent years. You now can choose apps that manage invoices, bank transfers, and facilitate payments.
Aside from the software, mobile apps can help with cashless payments as well. With the pandemic in mind, security should be your priority.
Some apps like Square, featured on JoyofAndroid, allow customers to pay through cashless terminals. This terminal simply attaches to your phone which then reads their cards.
Ever-present customer care
Mobile connectivity is lending a big hand for businesses all over. It allows businesses to keep in touch with customers without having to depend on physical presence.
At times, the business doesn’t even have to be online. Using chatbots allows businesses to hand out replies during the off-hours so that customers get instant feedback or updates.
Despite that, nothing beats live chats. Customers prefer having a human being on the other end of the line. Mobile devices allow businesses to reply where they may be, without reliance on the company computer.
It’s about keeping in touch with your customers. With mobile devices at hand, it’s so much easier to take care of that. Optimize your business in a way that you can be reached any time of the day.
Making the most out of Social Media
It’s not hard to see why we’re putting importance on Social Media. With online traffic up, you’ll want to make sure you’re there every step of the way.
Making the most out of social media will allow you to advertise your products or services both through paid and non-paid means.
Having your content promoted, for a fee, will make sure it shows up on everybody’s feed. This works for both Facebook and Instagram. Examples of these are those “Sponsored Posts” that show up every once in a while.
For the free option, you’ll have to make sure your content is worth sharing. Having your content passed around by the online population ensures you stay relevant.
A bonus is that these shares act as votes of confidence for your business.
Aside from these, you can use Social Media as a social thermometer. Being aware of popular trends allows you to understand the population. With this information, you can then create content apt for that environment.
Conclusion
Bottom line is, you have to do your homework. Mobile technology is an ever-progressing field and it would only help your business if you keep yourself informed.
It’s not that you have to go for the most popular option, it’s so you know how you can make the most of what’s available.
All this is to say that there’s a whole lot of ways you can extend your reach. Be a student again and learn how to make the most out of these developments. The best part about this is that the benefits you gain here will apply even after the pandemic.
All images are from Pexels.com
Author Bio: Dan Martin
Dan shares his newfound knowledge with other Android enthusiasts on joyofandroid.com. Dan also enjoys photography and cooking steak.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/danielmartin_a
