7.1 For Mobile App Platforms
Based on our Product-Customer “Fit” mobile retail apps have done a pretty good job, but failure to alleviate customer pains proves to be its biggest issue. The limited items displayed on screen and poor layout were main frustrations both interviewees and survey respondents had highlighted while exploring the topic. It remains an immense challenge to provide a well-designed layout or user interface (UI) that showcases all of the products yet stay simple enough to provide the best user experience (UX). Not only is displaying products important but displaying the right amount of information, and making it easy to navigate across pages. What makes it difficult is trying to do a refresh or re-design of your mobile retail app. Many companies are stuck with a design or UI, and having to spend money and time to do a total UI revamp may not be the easiest decision for many top managers. It’s hard to justify investments required without certainty of ROI, but perhaps they should consider that 50% of survey respondents said they would increase their usage of mobile apps if improvements were made.
If current mobile retail companies or brands really want win over the Taiwanese consumers, they have to start addressing some of their “Pain points”. We found out from our study that a large proportion of the audience are focused on the search and compare phases of the shopping journey. If apps are able to alter the way search results are presented, or provide consumers the right information, or allow consumers to quickly refine search results, they will be able to make it easier for consumers to achieve their search objective.
Developing new capabilities that gives users the power to compare items also remains an untapped opportunity. As of right now, the mobile app experience has solely been focused on finding items, being recommended items and then purchasing. If companies want to breakthrough, then item comparisons within a particular shopping store or across different stores will be the way to go. It may not be the easiest thing to develop, but with so many various shopping sites or apps available on the market, such a pull factor would be significant. If consumers had a way to not only search and browse but to view price comparisons, this would be additional value that keeps them highly motivated to complete their purchase using your platform.
Other than making adjustments to relieve the critical “Pains” that users have, current market players should also note the subtle things such as payment options, delivery options, security, because it is really easy for consumers to be turned away and chose other available shopping apps. Design and layout could be something other mobile app providers could also accomplish well, making it is really easy for consumers to be turned away due to other flaws that may not exist in the other apps.
For someone new to the scene, having the ability to start on a clean slate gives them a very large advantage in coming up with a totally new shopping experience on the mobile screen. On the flip side, brands or companies thinking about entering the online retail space must be really careful too. The current market already offers consumers various options when it comes on online shopping, that means if you’re not creating something that will stand out, soon you’ll just be another mobile app on someone’s home screen.
According to data research firm Localytics, 80% of all app users churn after 90 days (J.
Perro, 2017). Meaning that after 3 months, an app is only likely to retain 20% of its users. It will require careful planning and a strong strategy before taking the jump onto this mobile retail train. Managing the user retention becomes just as important as the acquisitions, the time people spend on the app becomes more important than just the number of downloads you get.
As for the possibility of introducing a new integrated marketplace within social chat app LINE, there are positive takeaways from this study. Although there were comments from both interviewees and survey respondents that showed slight uncertainty, many were also quick to point out that it would be something worth exploring. The success story of WeChat may not be an accurate benchmark due to different consumer preferences and shopping expectations in Mainland China, but that seamless flow brought together by WeChat’s various functions have really made it an attractive option for many across China. It may be possible that LINE can also successfully create an easy to use a marketplace, with quick checkout processes via LINE pay, and social functions integrated with its original chat.
With strong competition and plenty of opportunities to take advantage of a growing online retail sector in Taiwan, mobile retail players have to be at the top of their game in order to stay relevant and to grow their market share.
7.2 For Website Retail Platforms
Taking note of all the features and expectations that consumers are looking for in an online shopping site is definitely the first step in the right direction, but there are many
things to consider as we wrap up this paper. It is crucial for websites to take note that whilst they may be the current preference of Taiwanese consumers, this does not mean it will not change. Mobile app providers are going to try to improve the experience for users and will continue to draw more users over, resting on their laurels will surely be the downfall of any retail website platform.
Important points they can pick up from this study include the overall User Interface and navigation, as well as simplifying and encouraging purchases. Websites have much more display area to use to showcase products and promotions, but if not careful they can become messy and unattractive. The design and layout of the site not only serves to be aesthetically pleasing but it also helps in making the overall site’s navigation smoother. They need to remember that it is as much about creating a website that is easy to use, as it is creating a website with many uses. One such use that many websites are lacking and can start exploring would be the ability for users to carry out comparisons – a sentiment that had been echoed by all our interviewees. As of now, this remains an area that not many have ventured into and can heavily swing local users in favour of a particular shopping site.
Websites also have to keep improving the user experience to build loyalty and long-term customer relationships. Allowing consumers to find items quickly and make purchases easily with saved information, makes buying hassle-free and consumers enjoy the shopping experience – creating a sticky factor which means users are more inclined to keep returning to your site.
As the industry grows and consumers try to figure out how they will shop online, website providers will have to make careful decisions. Do they choose to invest heavily in their site and try to compete with mobile apps? Or do they also invest in developing their own mobile app version of their online store? For some it might be wise that instead to trying to win the fight between desktop and mobile, creating dedicated avenues for different target audiences might better position their brand/store for the future.