1. SHOPPER RESEARCH
Effortless & Sustainable Customer Care
Mobile Shopping Cliffhanger
Consumers Identify Big Gaps in Retail Shopping Apps

2. 2 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
table of contents
SHOPPER RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
KEY DISCOVERIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
HIDDEN DISSATISFACTION IN MOBILE SHOPPING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
CARE OR CONSEQUENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
WRAPPING UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3. 3 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Consumers are embracing online shopping, shifting a significant
portion of their purchases from retail stores to the web at an ever-
increasing pace. According to Forrester Research, U.S. online sales
will top $400 billion in 2018, and nearly $1 trillion worldwide*
.
But now, a second wave of change is already well underway.
Consumers have less time, are more price conscious, and have
access to more information than ever before- and that’s changing
buying behavior.As a result, consumers are shifting a healthy portion
of their online purchases from the web to smartphones and tablets.
Mobile shopping has arrived.
But there is a looming problem.
We recently completed a national consumer survey to identify
emerging trends in mobile retail shopping. This research revealed
a latent dissatisfaction with mobile apps. If retailers fail to address
this problem, it will soon put a damper on mobile shopping revenue
growth and customer loyalty.
Fortunately, consumers are telling us exactly what needs to be done.
And for those retailers who solve the problem, consumers indicate
a strong willingness to reward them with more purchases, higher
loyalty, and lower costs.
I invite you to read this report and find out what you can do to unlock
the full potential of mobile shopping.
JOHN HIBEL
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
CONTACT SOLUTIONS, INC.
*Mulpuru, Sucharita “The New Paradigm of Retail” Forrester – July 24, 2014
Mobile Shopping Cliffhanger
Consumers Identify Big Gaps in Retail Shopping Apps
SHOPPER RESEARCH
JOHN HIBEL

4. 4 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
We surveyed 1,000 U.S. shoppers about their
mobile retail shopping experiences.
geography
gender 52% female
48% male
age 24% 18-29
30% 30-44
27% 45-60
19% 60+
education 9% high school
31% some college
32% college degree
27% graduate degree
METHODOLOGY

5. 5 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Thirty percent of shoppers choose physical stores
for less than half of their everyday shopping.
Consumers are embracing online shopping at
higher rates, and they are migrating to mobile.
Shoppers have high expectations about the level of service they receive, and with retailers like Amazon and Zappos
offering easy one-click purchasing, mobile is already cannabalizing other shopping behavior. Shopping is shifting rapidly
from traditional websites to mobile, but using mobile can actually help keep shoppers in-store as well.
KEY DISCOVERIES
Time, convenience, faster Internet speeds are all factors. Consumers are on the go, but that doesn’t mean they
want to go out of their way to a physical location.When given the choice between online and a physical store,
shopper preferences are rapidly moving online.
Online-only retailers and mobile shopping are
making a big impact on consumer habits.
BUY
52% 30%
52% do more
than half of their
online shopping
with online-only
retailers.
30% shop
on mobile at
least as much
as they do on
a computer.

6. 6 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Retail investments in online and mobile shopping
experiences are paying off, but there’s a problem...
HIDDEN DISSATISFACTION IN MOBILE SHOPPING
Consumers express satisfaction with their online shopping experiences, but convenience and the ability to cherry-pick the
best deals, when and how they want, have given them high expectations.
With many mobile shopping apps still in their infancy, mobile shopping will grow,
but ONLY if customer care can keep up with expectations.
3 out of 4 shoppers shop online.
39% of
consumers are
disappointed by
the inability to
get help within
the mobile app
experience.

7. 7 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Retail investments in online and mobile shopping
experiences are paying off, but keeping the
trend going requires attention to customer care.
CARE OR CONSEQUENCES
Avoid letting your business go off a cliff due to abandoned sales. If you don’t offer customer care in-app today,
you are alienating more than half your customers and losing sales.
The problem may be worse than it seems.
1 of 6 consumers say they struggle with mobile
shopping apps more than half of the time.
And more than half (55%) of shoppers struggle with mobile shopping apps at least 20% of the time. With consumers experiencing
so much struggle, mobile shopping apps are not close to reaching their full potential and in fact may be vulnerable.
When consumers struggle, 71% will abandon their
cart or leave the app entirely.
71% OUCH!

8. 8 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Mobile shopping apps: what consumers want
CARE OR CONSEQUENCES
Consumers want an easy purchasing experience.
75% of shoppers say the ability to get customer care
impacts their shopping experience satisfaction.
Many retailers are doing some of these things well, but not all. Failure to provide in-app customer care can be a deal breaker.
Consumers have high expectations when it comes to getting help on their own terms. If they can’t get mobile customer care,
they leave with a poor customer experience.
Mimics what they are used to on the web
Fast and easy
Personalized offers
Ability to get customer care

9. 9 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Shoppers will buy, and repeat business,
if they have a great customer experience.
92% of shoppers say it would be helpful to have
customer care automatically provided within an app
to help complete a task or a goal.
Seamless customer care within the app
will pay huge dividends
OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS
77% of shoppers will be more likely to return to the app. 95% say it will make them more likely to do business again.
Shoppers will readily accept help when its offered, providing that function should be a no brainer.
77% 95%

10. 10 ContactSolutions | MobileShoppingCliffhanger
Experience matters, and shoppers share how they
feel. Make room for life’s interruptions.
OPPORTUNITY ABOUNDS
Shoppers will buy if they feel supported and ready. Seamless customer care within the app will make 77% of shoppers
more likely to return to the app, and 95% say it has an impact on whether they do business again.
92% of consumers say they will be more likely to
make purchases if they could easily access previous
customer service conversations.
70% of respondents will tell friends and family when they have a poor customer experience. 43% will post a review on the
company website or mobile app. 29% will share on their personal social network. 23% will post a review on a third party website.
When consumers
have a poor
experience with a
retailer, 95% will
rat you out.
95%

11. The rapid adoption of smartphones means retailers have more reason than ever to optimize their shopping
experience for a mobile audience. But if you haven’t integrated customer care, you could be leading your
customers off of a cliff to app abandonment. Today’s customers are on the go, highly tech-savvy, and have
more choices than ever when it comes to where they spend their dollars. Mobile customer care can enhance
your brand experience, increase loyalty and stickiness, and give your customers something to talk about.
If you’re interested in learning how to make effortless customer care a part of your mobile solution, we’d
love to show you more of our research.
Effortless & Sustainable Customer Care
Mobile customer care can enhance your brand
experience,increaseloyaltyandstickiness,and
give your customers something to talk about.
WRAPPING UP
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IDS.002.004 V1 * OCT 2014
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At Contact Solutions, we believe customer care should be effortless for the customer and sustainable for the enterprise. Our cloud-based, voice and
mobile customer care solutions reduce effort through highly personalized self-service and agent-assisted experiences, provided at the convenience of
the customer. We use business intelligence to continually improve and optimize customer care so enterprises can achieve superior results at sustainable
cost, while adapting quickly to rapidly changing customer demands.
For more, visit www.contactsolutions.com.