Not having a mobile app in 2025 is the equivalent of a retailer not having website eight years ago.

The average UK citizen spends almost four hours every day on their mobile phone – three hours, 48 minutes and 36 seconds to be precise, according to The State of Mobile 2024 report. Assuming they spend around six hours and 20 minutes sleeping, the nightly average as revealed by the latest UK sleep research, that’s almost a quarter of their waking time. Little wonder mobile commerce dominates retail strategies, particularly when you also consider that 18% of UK adults only access the internet via their mobile phone, according to USwitch.

But, of course, retailers need to do more than simply have a mobile commerce strategy. The huge exposure it can potentially deliver combined with the massive amount of competition in the space makes it vital for retailers to deliver the best and most engaging mobile commerce experience. Failure to do so means not only losing out to rivals, but also putting off customers through reputational damage. So what are the vital ingredients of a successful mobile commerce strategy?

Build a mobile app

350% more sales conversion is delivered via mobile app than the mobile web.

The imperative to provide the best possible mobile shopping experience has driven the proliferation of the mobile shopping app and launched a new era in retail. Rather than simply getting shoppers to visit their website on their mobiles, the app provides a quicker, easier, more intuitive and convenient (the magic word in retail) way to buy.

The result is that apps deliver 350% more sales conversion power than the mobile web, and even 62% more than the desktop web, according to Mindera client research. This has made mobile apps the future of retail and getting them right is key to every retailer’s future, particularly in the fashion, mixed shopping and grocery categories, which together make up nearly three-quarters of the retail app market.

Make it fast

“Time [and tide] waits for no man”, according to the well used proverb from the pen of celebrated British 14th century poet Geoffrey Chaucer, and neither does the mobile shopper. The pace of life has picked up considerably since good old Geoff’s day, making his popular saying all the more pertinent today. This has long been recognised by online retailers, which strive to make the online customer journey as intuitive and seamless as possible so shoppers can find what they are looking for quickly and easily. A lack of friction is particularly important at the virtual checkout, the critical point at which many shoppers are tempted to bail, abandoning their virtual shopping cart and failing to be converted into an actual customer.

If speed is the essence of mobile commerce and ecommerce in general, then the app is essential. Using the mobile web is proven to be around 80% slower than a well designed mobile app, according to a test Mindera carried out across two different shopper journeys. First, for high end fashion brand Net-a-Porter it took 14.8 seconds to find a handbag and check out through the mobile app, compared with 28 seconds on the web. Similarly for ASOS, this time with cargo trousers, journey time from selection to purchase was 17.4 seconds against 28 seconds. A key reason for this is that apps use far less data – on one journey on a mobile app, just 1.9mb is transferred, compared with 16.8mb for the same journey on the web. This is because the app framework has already been downloaded and installed on a shopper’s phone.

Push don’t email

A 10 times higher opening rate is achieved through mobile app push messages compared to email marketing.

Similar to a text, a push notification is a message sent to a mobile phone from an app. It can only be received by phones that have the app installed, and users must have the push notification enabled to receive one. However, the app does not need to be open for push messages to be received, and they are highly visible, appearing as pop-ups on a mobile phone home screen and lock screen, as well as in the notification center.

The effectiveness of push notifications to engage mobile phone users compared with email marketing is significant. Average email opening rates hover around 2% with click-through rates to links displayed only achieving 1%. This compares to 20% and 28% respectively for push messages, according to research by Reckless. So shoppers are 10 times more likely to open a push message than an email, and 14 times more likely to follow a link included in the message. This makes them a highly valuable sales and marketing tool when used appropriately with relevant content that adds real value to the target audience. Irrelevant messages sent to frequently, however, will turn users off, so beware.

Living the brand

Designed and built in the right way, mobile apps create a personalised environment for shoppers where they can truly live a brand. So smart retailers will ensure the visual approach and content align with their vision and values so that they can create an online immersive experience where shoppers can find what they want, when they want and buy it quickly and easily. Feedback from customers on the app store for the recently launched app for major Australian luxury department store chain David Jones, built by Mindera, reflects this with one customer saying: “I’ve been waiting for David Jones to release an app for sooo long… And what can I say, it was worth the wait! Such an awesome experience and cool design that really lives and breathes the high quality I’ve become use[d] to from David Jones.”

Adding value through personalised offers makes shoppers feel special and valued, driving loyalty and keeping them coming back for more. This is possible through the data apps can generate on individual shopper activity and preferences. The fact that shoppers are more responsive to app messages means retailers cannot only keep them engaged and influence their purchasing, but also canvas their opinions to gain key insight that will help them develop their offering in line with what they want. Essentially, no retailer should be without one.

Mindera has successfully developed mobile apps for some of the UK’s leading retailers, spanning sectors from fashion to grocery. Contact us today to discuss your mobile app strategy.

Key takeaways

• The imperative to provide the best possible mobile shopping experience has driven the proliferation of the mobile shopping app and launched a new era in retail. Rather than simply getting shoppers to visit their website on their mobiles, the app provides a quicker, easier, more intuitive and convenient (the magic word in retail) way to buy.
• Apps deliver 350% more sales conversion power than the mobile web. This has made mobile apps the future of retail and getting them right is key to every retailer’s future.
• The journey from browsing to purchase on the mobile web is proven to be around 80% slower than on a well designed mobile app. This is because the app framework has already been downloaded and installed on a shopper’s phone.
• Average email opening rates hover around 2% with click-through rates to links displayed only achieving 1%. This compares to 20% and 28% respectively for mobile app push messages. So shoppers are 10 times more likely to open a push message than an email, and 14 times more likely to follow a link.
• The fact that shoppers are more responsive to app messages means retailers cannot only keep them engaged and influence their purchasing, but also canvas their opinions to gain key insight that will help them develop their offering in line with what they want. Essentially, no retailer should be without one.