Despite the influx of mobile users and shoppers, retailers are not seeing the high conversion rates you might expect. Retailers can take steps to increase mobile conversion. Here are four things retailers should be doing to optimize their sites for the rise of m‑commerce, from Digital Commerce 360.

Enhance mobile apps
Customers have common key frustrations while shopping on mobile apps. For example, most have limited visibility and do not allow shoppers to zoom in on product images or pages. Common app features such as push notifications can also interrupt the shopping experience and oftentimes divert users away from their carts. Similarly, many shopping apps have poor functionality and crash when a user receives a text message or a phone call. Additionally, a shopper’s search history is not always saved, which can deter them from starting a new order from scratch.

Retailers can actually use showrooming to their advantage! Shoppers walk into the store to see, touch and feel what they want and even after checking for the best price will likely buy it on their phones from the store they're in! Retailers need to make their mobile-​buying process simple for the 17.3% of Americans who compare pricing at a competitor while shopping, according to the latest AudienceSCAN research.

Cater your website for mobile
Many retailers have yet to optimize their sites for mobile use—which can lead to mounting frustrations as consumers use their mobile devices to attempt to browse a site designed for desktop viewing. With 87 percent of shoppers looking for a product online before visiting the store, 79 percent while in the store, and 35 percent after they leave the store, failing to cater a website for mobile can lead to missed opportunities. Not having a mobile optimized website is like closing your store one day a week.

Since Showroomers will be looking for the best price, retailers could send out coupons and mailers that also inform them of their easy-​to-​use mobile shopping experience. The latest data from AudienceSCAN revealed 44% of Showroomers took action based on ads/​coupons they received in their mailboxes.

Diversify payment options
Due to the growing popularity of mobile payment apps such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, PayPal, and Venmo, many now expect their phones to be the sole item needed for shopping. By accepting new forms of mobile payments, retailers will not only keep up with mobile shopping trends, they will also expand their client base by accommodating the vast quantity of shoppers adopting these alternative payment methods.

Retailers can make sure Showroomers purchase on the spot from their mobile phones by sending them a special offer! The most recent AudienceSCAN survey found 39% of Showroomers took action after receiving mobile smartphone app ads or text message ads in the past month.

Streamline checkout
Retailers need to consider that mobile customers are typically multitasking which causes them to rush through the checkout. Combined with the problem of ‘fat fingers’ typing on small devices, it’s also common for customers to make mistakes when filling in forms; one of the biggest problems being address form errors.

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.