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Staying relevant with mobile, Websphere Commerce

August 07, 2013 Written by NetSphere Category: eCommerce
Staying relevant with mobile, Websphere Commerce
Using an abacus and churning butter add a bit of comic relief to the list of outdated tasks found on the Obsolete Skills website. Other skills, like writing in cursive and flipping over a cassette tape just add insult to injury for anyone pushing the age of 40.
 
But, give it a few years and who knows what else might find its way onto the list. Using a desktop computer perhaps? Although it might sound farfetched, the use of mobile devices is leading society in that direction.
 
According to a study conducted by Google and Nielsen in March 2013, an overwhelming 77 percent of mobile searches happen at home or at work – even if a PC is nearby. The research from Google and Nielsen also revealed that 45 percent of those mobile searches are conducted to help make a decision. And overall, 17 percent result in a purchase.
 
So for e-retailers, if the whole point of giving customers the ability to shop online is for the convenience factor, then why aren’t more sites better enabled for mobile commerce? Some of it may have to do with the perceived difficulty in developing an effective mobile site.
 
For WebSphere Commerce users, however, prebuilt mobile store models can be quickly implemented to personalize shopping and buying experiences from mobile devices, smartphones and tablets.
 
IBM WebSphere Commerce extends the customer touch point to mobile for browsing your online catalog, conducting side-by-side product comparisons, receiving personalized marketing and promotions, completing transactions, obtaining store location information, and providing an accurate view of orders and inventory availability,” said the editors at IBM. “Shoppers can now indicate where they are located so that they see the right pricing and availability for their location. E.g. City A or City B or Store A or Store B.”
 
The fact that your phone can pinpoint where you are at any given moment in time enables a merchant to deliver geo-location ads relevant to your physical location. It also offers the ability to target a consumer on the move.
 
Consumers want speed and convenience, and that’s just what they get when they reach for their smartphones and tablets – as long as the sites they’re visiting are enabled for mobile, of course. If a mobile site requires users to zoom in several times and then scroll back and forth to see all the content on the page, they’re just going to leave.
 
So take advantage of the IBM WebSphere Commerce mobile solution and gain new insights into increasing your conversion rate with mobile and geo-targeting technology. And feel free to contact the team at NetSphere Strategies. We can help your company quickly adopt mobile as a new selling channel, which will ultimately keep you and your products from becoming obsolete.
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Abbe Miller is the marketing manager at NetSphere Strategies, located just outside Chicago. NetSphere Strategies is a boutique eCommerce company positioned to help businesses transform their online presence by providing a full complement of services that starts with our strategic consulting and creative design teams, then continues with building innovative solutions and providing ongoing post-project support.