Blame the rain when that $600 Nordstrom order shows up at your doorstep.
A study by a San Francisco-based Rich Relevance shows the weather could impact how and where you spend your money. Mariah Walton writes that she set out to determine whether wet weather increases online sales, using Seattle as a guinea pig:
My original hypothesis was simple: Weather affects how and when people shop. To extrapolate that even further, I’ll surmise that people habituated to rain, like Seattle natives, will abandon the digital world when it’s sunny and enjoy the great outdoors.
Countless factors affect online shopping, many of which aren’t well known, classified, or understood. Much like the climate system, online sales vary across different time periods–year, month, week, day, hour–with smaller levels of variability often dismissed as so much ‘noise’. Ipads might be trending one day, and blenders the next, but over a month long period, maybe it’s towels that are the top seller. Yet what if we could really examine this ‘noise’? Isolate it? Explain it?
In the dark ages before I came to Rich Relevance, I studied climate change–no joke–and while I gained many insights from my research (global warming = not a hoax), the greatest was a general appreciation for how the environment feeds back onto itself, and how humanity is intrinsically linked to that environment. Thus I set forth with eagerness in this blog post to revisit my old friend ‘weather’ and determine if our environment affects online shopping.
I’ve now been a father for 26 days, so for the first time, I am on the other side of whatever recognition/acknowledgement rituals might ensue this Father’s Day. Despite centering my career around retail data, the nosey-child-poking-around-the-attic-before-Christmas in me quickly succumbed to the fact I can never predict any gift that my wife comes up with; she has proven time and again her ability to latch (no pun intended) onto that thing I said I wanted in passing last fall, realizing that I would never buy it for myself. No pressure, darling.
So, starting smaller (or larger, depending on your perspective), we recently conducted a study at RichRelevance to observe Father’s Day retail trends, with the hypothesis that there would be differences in shopper behavior in the United States vs. in the United Kingdom, both celebrating the holiday on the same day. Incidentally, there are many retail trends this time of year in addition to Father’s Day, such as gardening, fishing, camping, and graduation; the latter most often gets coupled with Father’s Day, if for no other reason than habitual reliance on the tiredly rhyming promotion “Dads and Grads.”
Econsultancy recaps on the latest 2012 Q1 UK Mobile Study revealing differences in m-commerce on both sides of the Atlantic.
It seems that the UK’s shoppers have adapted to mobile shopping more than their US counterparts. In the UK, mobile accounts for 9.1% of all e-commerce sales, compared with 4.6% across the pond.
These stats come from RichRelevance’s 2012 Q1 Shopping Insights Mobile Study, and are based on more than 1.1bn shopping sessions on UK and US retail websites (including mass merchants, as well as small and specialty retailers) up to 25 March 2012.
Here are some highlights from the study, and well as an infographic summarising the key findings…
Mobile commerce continues to grow
- In March, mobile accounted for 9.1% of all UK e-commerce sales, up from 8.2% since Christmas.
- In March, the average purchase on mobile was £109.68 compared to £100.05 on desktop.
- As indicated by other stats we have seen, iPads are a big deal. The iPad accounted for 82% of all mobile spend.
- Unlike previous stats average order values (AOV) in March were highest on iPhones.
- March iPhone purchases averaged £135.63 compared to £119 on other mobile devices, £111.41 on the iPad and £107.70 on desktop.
Conversion rates
- Not surprisingly, conversion rates were highest on desktop, at 3.6% in March.
- The iPad was next, with 2.9%, followed by iPhone (1.2%) and other devices (1%).
iPad users shop for longer
- Shoppers on the iPad viewed the most pages, logging an average of 9.89 pageviews per session in March compared to 8.86 pages on desktop, 5.16 pages on other mobile devices and 4.34 pages on iPhones.
- The iPad’s share of shopping sessions (viewing, not necessarily buying) increases on the weekends, reaching 10% compared to 8.2% during the week.
- The peak days for shopping on iPad are Wednesday and Sunday, during which 11% of shopping sessions happened on the device.
- The iPad’s share of sessions is greater during evenings, with peaks at 4pm, 8pm and 10pm.
- This suggests greater use of the device during leisure time, possibly as a second screen.
UK and US habits compared
- Brits were nearly twice as likely to spend on mobile as Americans, where mobile accounted for only 4.6% of revenue.
- For US shoppers, the average order value in March was $158 for iPad compared with $105 for other mobile devices and $104 for iPhone (and other iOS devices).
- The share of shopping sessions on iPads also rose in the US on weekends, though it only reached 7% on weekends compared to 5% during the week.
In the last week, RichRelevance introduced the US and UK versions of our Shopping Insights™ Q1 Mobile Study to the market with some fascinating findings around the rapid adoption and usage of mobile devices in e-commerce:
In the US, for instance, mobile purchases as a percentage of overall e-commerce have doubled in the last year from 1.9% in April 2011 to 4.6% in March 2012. Interestingly, the iPad is driving nearly all shopping, browsing and purchasing in this emerging channel and iPad shoppers here in the US, in March 2012, actually spent more than desktop users—five dollars more per order than the AOV of desktop users of $153.
By comparison, UK shoppers are blazing the trail for mobile shopping. UK mobile shopping is double that of their American counterparts, with mobile shopping representing just over nine percent of all e-commerce sales. The bulk of that mobile e-commerce revenue (more than 80%) is from purchases made on the iPad. Interestingly, the highest average order values, in March 2012, originated from the iPhone—$24 more than iPad shoppers and nearly $28 more than desktop shoppers.
These numbers are not just interesting, but they are telling a story about the ways in which consumers are embracing the freedom that mobile devices provide them in the ability to shop anytime, anywhere. Our Shopping Insights team believes that the difference between the mobile shoppers in the US and the UK has a lot to do with how we “live” in these two countries.
In the US, we are a car-and-couch culture; the majority of us drive to work, so using our mobile devices to and from the office or school is not an option. But when we do get a chance to shop, it’s often a relaxing event often taking place in front of the TV or even later at night in bed (iPad evening usage, from 8pm to 11pm, account for 26% of all iPad shopping sessions). This is also suggested by products iPad users frequently purchase in the US: fitness equipment, home furnishings and outdoor supplies. These are “aspirational” purchases, no doubt influenced by what is being seen on TV and the ability to relax with the device.
In the UK, it’s a different situation; while the iPad is squarely driving the majority of e-commerce sales, the fact that, in March, the iPhone is where the highest AOV occurs is very telling of the culture that is even more mobile than the US (a recent Times article revealed that there are more mobile phones in the UK than there are residents—62.5M, to be exact). Britons order everything online, from groceries to electronics and (according to our study) that includes large-ticket items purchased on a smartphone.
What does this mean for online retailers? It’s rather simple—or complex—depending on how you look at it. Simple from the standpoint that we must recognize our customers are engaging with us in the channel that best suits their needs at that moment. So as we have always said, put the customer at the center of your thinking and the business strategies become ultra-clear. The more complex initiative is the mandate to maintain different versions of your ecommerce site for each platform that a shopper wishes to use. Shopping on a smartphone is vastly different than shopping from a desktop. It’s incumbent on retailers to think about screen size, the form factor, ease of use—all aspects of the customer experience. That’s equally the case with the iPad, but there is also an opportunity to more directly engage with customers via catalog-style presentation of retail goods and services.
As we approach mass adoption, retailers must adapt their strategies to build specific interfaces to meet the needs of this emerging segment and the capabilities of the technology. You know, Steve Jobs did a remarkable job in building a mobile platform that consumers have embraced—the more retailers take advantage of this opportunity, the more relevant and lasting their brand will be to today’s shopper.
Brits make their largest and most expensive purchases on iPhones compared to their American counterparts who prefer the iPad
Reading, UK — 18 April 2012 — RichRelevance®, leading provider of dynamic personalisation for the world’s largest retailers and brands, today unveiled new research from its Shopping Insights™ organisation on mobile shopping in the UK. The report, The 2012 Q1 Shopping Insights™ Mobile Study identified trends in mobile shopping behaviour across mobile devices and desktop and compared the behaviour of British shoppers with their American counterparts. As mobile shopping continues to rise, this data provides retailers with valuable insight that can be used to personalise the customer experience whenever and wherever they shop.
“Today’s consumers visit retail websites from multiple platforms throughout the day. Whether they are shopping from their desk at work, browsing on their mobile phone while in the queue at lunch or making a purchase at home in the evening from their iPad, they expect a consistent experience that is optimised for any device they choose,” said Darren Hitchcock, vice president of UK and European territories, RichRelevance. “This data demonstrates that retailers have an opportunity not only to provide that seamless experience to customers, but think about how customers are shopping at different times of the day and week and to personalise their merchandising strategy around that behaviour.”
The 2012 Q1 Shopping Insights Mobile Study is based on more than 1.1 billion shopping sessions on UK and US retail websites between 1 January and 25 March 2012. These retailers include mass merchants, as well as small and specialty retailers. Key findings include:
Mobile spend on the rise
- In March, shopping on mobile represented a 9.1% revenue share of all e-commerce sales, up nearly a percentage point (from 8.2%) since the Christmas shopping period.
- Mobile shopping continues to outpace desktop purchasing. In March, the average purchase on mobile was £109.68 compared to £100.05 on desktop computers.
- The majority of mobile revenue comes from iPads which account for 82% of all mobile spend.
- However, March average order values (AOV) were highest on iPhones, jumping up significantly from the prior month. March iPhone purchases averaged £135.63 compared to £119 on other mobile devices, £111.41 on the iPad and £107.70 on desktop.
- The most expensive purchases were made on the iPhone, at an average of £84.77 per item compared to £74.38 on other mobile devices, £69.63 on iPad and £38.46 on desktop.
Desktop users more likely to convert, buy more items
- Although they had the lowest AOV, consumers who shopped on desktop computers were most likely to convert. Conversion rates on desktop were 3.6% in March compared to 2.9% on iPad, 1.2% on iPhone and 1% on other mobile devices.
- The average purchase on desktop contained 2.8 items on average, more than any other platform. iPad purchases were a close second, with 2.5 items per order. All other mobile devices, including iPad, contained an average of 1.6 items per order.
iPad users log longer shopping sessions, shop on evenings and weekends
- Shoppers on the iPad viewed the most pages, logging an average of 9.89 page views per session in March compared to 8.86 pages on desktop, 5.16 pages on other mobile devices and 4.34 pages on iPhones.
- iPad share of shopping sessions (viewing, not necessarily buying) increases on the weekends, reaching 10% on weekends vs. 8.2% during the week. However, the peak days for shopping on iPad are Wednesday and Sunday, during which 11% of shopping sessions happened on the device.
- iPad share of sessions climbs in the evening hours, from around 5pm until 9pm with peaks at 4pm, 8pm and 10pm.
Comparing UK and US habits
- Brits were nearly twice as likely to spend on mobile as Americans, where mobile accounted for only 4.6% of revenue.
- American shoppers made their largest purchases on their iPads: the average order value was $158 for iPad vs. $105 for other mobile devices vs. $104 for iPhone and other iOS devices in March 2012.
- Whilst the percentage of shopping sessions on iPads also rose in the US on weekends, iPad share of shopping sessions reached only 7% on weekends compared to 5% during the week.
About RichRelevance
Over 350 million times per day, RichRelevance is powering the personalised shopping experiences for consumers shopping the world’s largest and most innovative retail brands like Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, Walmart, Sears and Target. Founded and led by the e-commerce expert who helped pioneer personalisation at Amazon.com, RichRelevance helps retailers increase sales and customer engagement by recommending the most relevant products to consumers regardless of the channel they are shopping. RichRelevance has delivered more than $5 Billion in attributable sales for its retail clients to date, and is accelerating these results with the introduction of a new form of digital advertising called Shopping Media which allows manufacturers to engage consumers where it matters most—in the digital aisles on the largest retail sites in world. RichRelevance is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in London, New York, Seattle and Boston. For more information, please visit www.richrelevance.co.uk.