Why Mobile Shopping Apps are Less Popular Than You Think

Mobile shopping apps may be the latest buzz in the mobile marketing realm, but user behavior presents a different story. Consumers are all about convenience and exceptional customer service, and aren’t finding much help from mobile shopping apps at present. Apple is one company hoping to change that. 

So why are mobile shopping apps less popular than you think? Many of them take too long. Simply going to the store to make purchases is still considered the faster, more efficient option by many consumers. Users also believe in-app shopping doesn’t help “get past checkout” any quicker, so again speed is a huge factor.  

Having to “leave the app” to obtain shopping assistance also contributes to mobile shopping apps’ lack of popularity. One in four shoppers are likely to abandon their purchase and the brand entirely when this occurs, because the app is simply too complicated to deal with.

"You would never consider creating a shopping experience where a customer would have to completely leave the showroom floor to get assistance," says John Hibel, director of marketing at Contact Solutions. "That would be a horrible customer experience, and you know it would jeopardize sales. In the same way, you should never consider building a mobile shopping app that forces the customer to leave to app to get assistance."  

The lack of useful discounts and coupons is another mobile shopping app complaint, as 54% of shoppers in a recent survey noted such perks would significantly increase their interest in mobile shopping apps. 

So how to make mobile shopping apps more user-friendly? Apple might have the solution, at least in regards to the payment issue. The tech giant launched Apple Pay in the fall of 2014, and promised a secure, much faster digital platform for purchasing anything and everything, both in-store and online. Supposedly safer than checking out via debit and credit cards, the app is expected to have an “immediate impact” on mobile shopping. 

Consumers do the majority of their mobile shopping in the comfort of their homes, and are hankering for easier, more effective ways of shopping with various personal devices. 

"Mobile commerce is growing rapidly, and there’s an amazing race going on to win customer mindshare in the mobile moments that matter," Hibel notes. "Most consumers have a handful of apps they use frequently, and the rest get used rarely or just sit idle and forgotten. You want to do everything you can to be one of those frequently used, top- of -mind apps. To do that you’ve got to find ways to make your app sticky and get your customers to engage with it regularly."