Solving the mobile CX equation:

Three steps to help you thrive in a mobile-first world

+ CX $

Just two years ago, mobile proliferation reached a historic level that many never would have imagined. Throughout 2014, adults in the U.S. spent more time looking at their six inch mobile screens than they did their 60 inch TVs. And some 70 million Americans spent more time on their smartphones than on any other device, including desktops and tablets.1 These numbers are often referred to as ‘trends,’ but the bottom line is: mobile is here to stay.

By 2019, it’s predicted that the number of people using smartphones globally will increase from 2 billion to 3.5 billion.2 In 2015 alone, U.S. consumers purchased some $67 billion in goods on their smartphones — across a multitude of locations and channels.3 And that’s ignoring the part mobile plays in other parts of the purchase cycle, from initial product research to pre-ordering for pick-up

and frequent app usage. In fact, Forrester estimates that mobile ‘influenced’ $1 Trillion in consumer spend in 20154 — highlighting how mobile is now a gateway to all channels, whether physical or digital. These numbers are only likely to increase over time, leaving businesses wondering: how do we adapt to and thrive in this new mobile-dominated environment?

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Many organizations are reacting by investing significant resources into their mobile offerings, realizing focusing resources in this way can result in lower long-term costs, increased revenue and improved overall engagement.

However, the cost of shifting to mobile-first experiences entails more than merely front-end development or app building.5 It requires a much more holistic, long-term approach.

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Omnichannel: Battle of the screens

Digital media time in the U.S.

Mobile

Desktop

51%

42%

4

92%

of Americans own a smartphone

70%

of Americans use a smartphone 70 hrs+ per month

37%

of Americans used their smartphones in the past three

months to compare prices

255 millionpeople in North America are using

smart devices to access the web in 2016

50

mobile sites are visited by an average consumer each month

23%

of users expect their mobile experience to change

based on location

45%

of Americans own a tablet

6 billion

text messages are sent by Americans every single day

35%

of American consumers use their device to look up

product information

100 billion

monthly Google searches are done

on smart devices in the U.S.

62%

of users expect websites

to be mobile-friendly

Mobile CX by the numbers: American consumers and their smartphones

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Where and how often do Americans use their phones?

Access interactive content daily

via mobile

50%

Use their phones while shopping

30%

Use their phones while on

public transit

47%

Use their phones while in the car

35%

Use their phones while in the bathroom

(no judging)

over

50%

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m-Commerce: Embrace or get

left behind

In 2015, m-commerce grew nearly three times faster than e-commerce in the United States. As it stands now, m-commerce accounts for nearly one-third of all e-commerce sales, and continues to grab more of the market share with every swipe, text,

and click on smartphones and tablets. To illustrate how quickly this is happening, consider that in 2014 mobile commerce sales accounted for some $75 billion; in 2015, that same figure was estimated to be $104 billion.6

However, very few organizations seem to be ready for this astonishing transformation in consumer habits. Only 51% of eBusiness professionals are in the ‘mobile-first’ stage of maturity, with a mere 17% believing they are ready to embrace this mobile CX transformation.3 But the share of m-commerce revenue will almost certainly continue to increase, and any organizations which don’t adapt accordingly will begin to fall by the wayside.

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Forrester’s ‘mobile mind shift’ path to maturity

Stage one: Shrink & squeeze

Considered to be the pragmatic approach, this first step simply requires that you optimize your website for mobile. However, while redesigning your site for smaller screens, don’t assume that your customer’s needs and motivations are the same on mobile as they are on desktop.

Stage two: Become ‘mobile-first’

Start by asking yourself how you can enhance your customer’s in-store experience with mobile, or capitalize on mobile’s unique capabilities — such as GPS or digital photography — to offer new services that will delight your customers.

Stage three: Transform your customer experience

At this stage, mobile becomes more than just a strategy for your business, but a way to increase conversion rates and improve customer service through a streamlined experience with curated content and — potentially — apps.

Stage four: Disrupt your industry

While industry disruption has been the domain of mobile-first startups since the dawn of the mobile age, you can use this stage to design new services specifically for your mobile audience, or even reinvent your business model to disrupt your industry and improve the way that you do business.

#1

1

3

2

4

8

Mobile customers expect responsive

and consistent omnichannel experiences

Most businesses begin their shift to mobile by reformatting their websites for smartphones and tablets. However, this should merely be the first stage in a series of updates necessary for an engaging mobile experience. Consider this: a 2014 survey of digital business professionals found that 54% of their organizations had built mobile-optimized websites, with another 26% planning to follow suit within the following year.7

It’s safe to assume that these numbers have only increased since. A mobile-optimized website will therefore no longer help you stand out. Instead, your customers want a fully personalized and responsive experience.

Then think of the bigger picture. Your customers now expect a consistent and enriching omnichannel experience — regardless of whether they’re on your website or app or engaging with you at one of your locations. By its very nature, mobile — more than any channel — lends itself to being used

in conjunction with and alongside other channels, often at the same time. Customers visiting one of your locations are commonly on your mobile site while they’re there, doing additional research about you, your products or something else that piques their interest at that vital moment of truth.

Similarly, initial research by customers via mobile before even making their way to your premises or browsing your desktop site is a common path to purchase. As a result, mobile truly has become the gateway to all channels —whether physical or digital.

How do you fulfill this need and make changes in line with your customers’ preferences? By empowering them to tell you exactly what they really think about their physical and digital interactions with your business from within their mobile experience and then take action on what they tell you to drive improvements over time.

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Mobile is a gateway to both physical and digital channels

• Mobile impacted $1 trillion in retail sales in 2015.

• In the US, more than 30% of sales will have a mobile cross-channel component.

• By 2020, 42% of sales within a physical location will be influenced by the Internet

• 50% of consumers who conduct a local search on their smartphone visit a brick-and-mortar location within a day

• 82% of shoppers say they consult their phones on purchases they’re about to make when in a brick-and-mortar location

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Mobile: A complex and

varied world

Mobile commerce is an extremely complex world, with your customers likely to be accessing your digital experience from a wide range of devices, browsers, operating systems, screen sizes/resolutions and so on. How do you spot trends and gain a

Safari 9Chrome Mobile 47Chrome Mobile 48Safari 8Samsung Browser 2.1Android Browser 4Safari 7Samsung Browser 3.2Chrome Mobile 30Chrome Mobile 46

clear understanding when trying to replicate individual sessions when there is so much variety? At the very least, you need CX analysis that incorporates this information to ensure you target action in the right way.

Chrome Mobile 28Samsung Browser 3.4Samsung Browser 3.3Chrome Mobile 33Chrome Mobile 34Chrome Mobile 38Internet Explorer Mobile 11Chrome Mobile 43Safari 6

Amazon Silk 47.1

5,182 Number of smartphone models available to purchase in the U.S.

22 Number of smart device operating systems available in the U.S. *excluding different versions in use

Top 20 smart device browsers in the U.S.

1,289 Number of tablet models available to purchase in the U.S.

35 Number of versions of iOS operating system currently in operation

56 Number of versions of Android operating system currently in operation

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To app or not to app...

Many businesses place significant focus on app development when trying to compete in the mobile marketplace. But before you choose to navigate down this path, you need to be sure this is the most productive and effective use of your resources.

Putting aside the need to span the different platforms used, the reality is that most apps are only used by the most fervent followers of a brand. In fact, the majority of business apps are overkill for the type of fast and responsive experience customers expect.8

If you do decide that offering an app is the right course of action for your business, however, it’s imperative for you to develop a clear understanding of exactly how your customers feel about it.

70%

of apps downloaded are only used once or less.

84%

of consumer time spent in non-native apps

spent in five or fewer apps

Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo

own 34% of consumer time spent in non-native apps

34%

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Three steps to mobile CX leadership

In simple terms, what does all the data highlighted in this Strategy Guide tell us? Your customers want to engage with you via their smart devices and they will want to do so more in the future but their mobile preferences are complex and constantly evolving. For companies looking to respond to and – better still – become leaders in such an environment, the challenges faced by these ever-changing trends can be a daunting prospect.

So how can you collect the necessary insights from your customers to help you prioritize your mobile CX strategies

in a cost-effective and productive way? How can you determine surface data, such as device and location, or even deeper insights, such as actions taken before or after landing on your site? Or form a deeper understanding of the behaviors, values, and motivations of your customers on mobile and beyond? The answer lies in a strong VoC program that is non-intrusive, always on, and capable of providing the detailed back-end analytics that can empower your organization to take action on mobile.

The key to delivering a superior mobile CX can be summarized by building and following a VoC program that incorporates three constantly recurring steps:

Give your customer a voice

Take action on what your

customers tell you

Deliver an improved mobile CX

This process ensures consistent evolution in line with market expectations and aspirations, which in turn leads to increased engagement, conversation and sales.

1 2 3

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Step one: Give your customer a voice Step two: Take action on what your customers tell you

Step three: Improve your mobile customer experience

By giving your customer a voice in the process, you can uncover aspects of the mobile customer journey that are the most meaningful, and problematic. First, you need to give them a platform to share their opinions, frustrations, needs and wants through an easy-to-use, non-intrusive process across every engagement touchpoint.

The key is empowering your customers to speak to you completely on their terms. It’s only then that you capture the undiluted viewpoints and opinions you need to drive discernible action.

Taking immediate action on what your customers tell you about your customer experience is critical, especially when optimizing your CX in a hypercompetitive mobile environment.

To succeed at this stage of the process, you need sophisticated real-time text analytic and data visualization tools. You also need to capture background contextual information – such as screen

Ensuring you continuously improve the quality and consistency of your mobile CX is imperative to achieving ongoing success in a rapidly changing and hypercompetitive market. Achieving this objective throughout a customer journey that incorporates multiple

Time-consuming pop-up surveys that steer your customers to answer the questions you want answered therefore aren’t the solution. This is particularly the case on mobile, where blocking the single screen provides an especially frustrating experience.

Instead, you need to provide a customer-initiated engagement platform that’s non-obtrusive and ‘always on’ that empowers your customers to talk to you wherever, whenever and however they like at all points in their journey.

resolution, device type, operating system, browser type, location and so on – along with each piece of customer feedback. These capabilities enable you to quickly identify pain points, diagnose problems, spot recurring trends and – above all – provide you with the overall actionable insight you need to drive large-scale mobile CX innovation.

physical and digital touchpoints is invariably extremely challenging. By acting on customer feedback and the accompanying contextual data, you will constantly be driving both immediate customer centered action and longer term omnichannel CX improvements.

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Designing a responsive, personalized and engaging mobile experience might seem like a costly, endless uphill battle. But it doesn’t have to be. With the right VoC program, you empower mobile users to give you feedback whenever and however they want — uncovering crucial actionable insights in the process.

OpinionLab is a high-growth SaaS provider of continuous Voice of Customer engagement solutions that drive smarter and faster business decisions and help build customer centered cultures.

OpinionLab is a mobile VoC pioneer that the world’s largest brands trust to optimize customer experience and drive omnichannel engagement.

Find out more at opinionlab.comCopyright© 2016 OpinionLab Inc. All rights reserved

OpinionLab gives your customers a voice from within their customer experience, completely on their terms, captures rich context regarding their feedback, and then applies advanced analytics that allow you to take real-time and targeted action. The result: consistent and enriching mobile customer experiences that deliver measurable business impact.

What next?

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1. Nicole Dvorak, “Master Your Customers’ Mobile Pathways,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 3, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Master+Your+Customers+Mobile+Pathways/-/E-RES129283

2. Julie A. Ask, “Mobile Moments Transform Commerce and Service Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 6, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Moments+Transform+Commerce+And+Service+Experiences/-/E-RES115853

3. Julie A. Ask, “Mobile is Not a Channel,” Forrester Research, Inc., February 22, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Is+Not+A+Channel/-/E-RES120268

4. Julie A. Ask, “Tech Radar: Mobile Commerce, Q1 2016,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 14, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/TechRadar+Mobile+Commerce+Q1+2016/-/E-RES129265

5. Julie A. Ask, “Building a Mobile Business Case: It’s a Steep Climb,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 24, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Building+A+Mobile+Business+Case+Its+A+Steep+Climb /-/E-RES129191

6. Mark Brohan, “Mobile Commerce is Now 30% of all U.S. e-Commerce,” Internet Retailer, August 18, 2015. https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/08/18/mobile-commerce-now-30-all-us-e-commerce

7. Julie A. Ask, “The Mobile Technology Firms Use for Consumers: 2014,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 19, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/The+Mobile+Technology+Firms+Use+For+Consumers +2014/-/E-RES116986

8. Julie A. Ask, “Mobile is Not a Channel,” Forrester Research, Inc., February 22, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Is+Not+A+Channel/-/E-RES120268

Footnotes

Sources

Sources (continued)

Omnichannel: Battle of the screens

Dave Chaffet “Mobile Marketing Statistics compilation.” Smart Insights, April 27, 2016. http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/

Mobile CX by the numbers

Mobile phone internet user penetration in North America from 2014 to 2019, Statistica. http://www.statista.com/statistics/284206/north-america-mobile-phone-internet-user-penetration/

Julie A. Ask, “Mobile Moments Transform Commerce and Service Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 6, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Moments+Transform+Commerce+And+Service+Experiences/-/E-RES115853

Julie A. Ask, “Mobile is Not a Channel,” Forrester Research, Inc., February 22, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Is+Not+A+Channel/-/E-RES120268

April Berthene, Mobile Strategies 360, “The Mobile Champions,” February 2016.

Nicole Dvorak, “Master Your Customers’ Mobile Pathways,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 3, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Master+Your+Customers+Mobile+Pathways/-/E-RES129283

Monica Anderson, “Technology Device Ownership: 2015,” Pew Research Center, October 29, 2015. http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/29/technology-device-ownership-2015/

Where and how often do Americans use their phones?

Julie A. Ask, “Mobile Moments Transform Commerce and Service Experiences,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 6, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Moments+Transform+Commerce+And+Service+Experiences/-/E-RES115853

Forrester’s ‘mobile mind shift’ path to maturity

Julie A. Ask, “Mobile Mind Shift Maturity Framework,” Forrester Research, Inc., January 26, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Mind+Shift+Maturity+Framework/-/E-RES115850

Julie A. Ask, “Building a Mobile Business Case: It’s a Steep Climb,” Forrester Research, Inc., November 24, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Building+A+Mobile+Business+Case+Its+A+Steep+Climb/-/E-RES129191

Mobile is a gateway to both physical and digital channels

Julie A. Ask, “Tech Radar: Mobile Commerce, Q1 2016,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 14, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/TechRadar+Mobile+Commerce+Q1+2016/-/E-RES129265

Julie A. Ask, “Engage Customers Through Mobile,” Forrester Research, Inc., May 4, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Engage+Customers+Through+Mobile/-/E-RES72141

Susan Wu, Web-Influenced Retail Sales Forecast, 2015 To 2020 (US), Forrester Research Inc., September 16, 2015. https://www.forrester.com/report/Forrester+Research+WebInfluenced+Retail+Sales+Forecast+2015+To+2020+US/-/E-RES129003

Matt Lawson, 5 Ways Consumers Connect to Stores With Mobile Shopping, February 2016, Think With Google. https://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/5-ways-consumers-connect-stores-mobile-shopping-d.pdf

Mobile: a complex and varied world

specout.com (correct as of 16 April 2016)

DeviceAtlas Device Data: Web usage of Browsers + Versions by Country. https://deviceatlas.com/device-data/explorer/

To app or not to app...

Jennifer Wise, “Craft a Maturity-Based Mobile Strategy,” Forrester Research, Inc., March 28, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/Craft+A+MaturityBased+Mobile+Strategy/-/E-RES81282?utm_medium=email&utm_source=forrester_smtp&utm_campaign=research%20alert&objectid=RES81282

Julie A. Ask, “Mobile is Not a Channel,” Forrester Research, Inc., February 22, 2016. https://www.forrester.com/report/Mobile+Is+Not+A+Channel/-/E-RES120268