How mobile phones have evolved over the past two decades.

From grey screens to HD displays, the evolution of mobile devices has come fast and furious. Keeping up with the latest trends in mobile technology is not only difficult for mobile experts but also online retailers. Before technologies such as handheld touch screens can even mature and reach the majority of U.S. consumers, they are slowly becoming yesterday’s news as three-dimensional smartphones are starting to be mass produced. Mobile is one of the few industries which is significantly different one year to the next.

So how can retailers keep up with the ever-changing mobile technology? Here are some suggestions…

• Drop the “e” from eCommerce and the “m” from mCommerce – Traditional online retail and mobile shopping are becoming one, with almost 30% of consumers using their mobile phone as their primary internet device. When thinking of an online strategy for an eCommerce site it’s no longer typical to view mobile as an extension of the site; for long-term plans given the shift in consumer behavior (94% of smartphone owners ages 18-29 access the internet via mobile devices) having a strong mobile presence is becoming more of a necessity and a core focus of site development.

• Use the sophistication of mobile analytics to your advantage – While web analytics can tell the story of consumer behavior on an eCommerce site, consumers can sometimes be “faceless” to online retailers and just an e-mail address on a list. Mobile devices can be a key catalyst to foster consumer trust as two-thirds of consumers who engage in mobile commerce are willing to share personal information with retailers for customized services and deals. Demographic information such as age and gender can be used to optimize remarketing and customer retention tactics which can help boost sales.

In case you haven’t heard of Pinterest, it’s an image (and now some video) sharing social network where users can “Pin” their favorite images on their own page for the world to see and share. Fellow users can like, comment, or even “Repin” their favorite images to their page, similar to a Retweet on Twitter.

While Pinterest on the surface seems like yet another social network, the numbers say otherwise, especially for online retailers…

• Rapid growth: Pinterest has grown at an exponential rate and is now the third largest social network in the United States, surpassing Google+ and LinkedIn. Pinterest had 104 million total visits in March 2012 and the average time spent on the site per visit was 15.8 minutes, approximately 30% longer than the time spent on Facebook (12.1 minutes).  Pinterest has also become the sixteenth most popular site in the United States.

• Niche demographics: Not every social network is ideal for every online retailer – some retailers find the most success from Facebook, others from Twitter. Pinterest features a demographic of primarily females in the 25-34 age range, making it a strong network for female apparel, beauty products, and even toy retailers to post photographs of their latest inventory and deals. 28.1% of Pinterest users have a household income of more than $100,000. 50% of Pinterest users have children.

“Pins” on Pinterest featuring a price tag in the left corner

• In-picture monetization: One unique feature of Pinterest compared to other social networks is the ability for online retailers to post the price along with the product photo. This is done easily by entering the currency symbol (i.e. $) in the product description. While this may seem like a “no-brainer” for online retailers to use, there has been some recent research saying use of this tactic is mixed as seeing the price takes away the mystique of the item and users could be less likely to click through the photo for more information.

• Strong conversion rates: While engaging in social networks has become not only a marketing effort but also a customer care effort, one of the strongest drivers of retailers creating Pinterest pages is due to the high conversion rates the site brings. Links from Pins on Pinterest are also ranked “do-follow” by search engines and are indexed by Google, meaning Pins will show up in search results unlike Facebook posts and Tweets. Repins are the most common type of post on Pinterest and in result of this referral traffic from Pinterest to online retail sites was almost 4% at the end of 2011.

• Less competition: Pinterest is a unique social network for retailers because as users click through a Pin to an eCommerce site there is a call-to-action – purchase the product. While online retailers compete against content (articles) on Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest traffic has a higher bounce rate on content-heavy sites compared to retail sites. Traffic on retail sites from Pinterest is more likely to stick around and look at other products than content-heavy sites where users often look at one article and go back to Pinterest. There are also currently no traditional advertisements on Pinterest (i.e. “Promoted Pins”), meaning retailers cannot simply buy their way to the top of Pinterest search or the front page. This rewards retailers who put in the hard work and establish their presence on the network.

There’s no denying Pinterest holds some strong value for certain online retailers, but there are some notable concerns including image copyright infringement. As the social network continues its growth (which has been starting to slow recently) expect many changes to occur not only from the Pinterest team but also how the users of Pinterest interact with the site. Online retailers who feel their audience falls into the unique demographics of Pinterest may want to consider launching their own brand page, or at the very least securing their own brand name to avoid “squatters” and monitor their image on the social network.

Getting consumers to visit an eCommerce site is a task within itself – retailers spend thousands on e-mail marketing, SEM campaigns, and display advertising in hopes of driving traffic to their eCommerce site. Site designs are practical and finding products is easy, yet the shopping cart abandonment rates are at an all-time high of 72% and are expected to increase in 2012. Consumers are visiting eCommerce sites but are not “pulling the trigger” on purchases, especially when they are new to the site, and combating this behavior is becoming more difficult.

How can retailers deal with rising cart abandonment rates? To find out more information on the topic I sat down with our cart abandonment expert and eCommerce strategist, Doug Mitchell…

What are some current tactics retailers are finding effective in combating cart abandonment?

Re-targeting e-mails are easily the most effective way to curb cart abandonment, but adding a persistent cart to a site (where items remain in the cart after a customer exits the site) is also important. Throughout the site adding a cart icon with the number of items currently in the cart is also a good tactic as it makes consumers aware they have items in their cart, especially if they are returning to the site and may have forgotten about the items. (more…)