Category: Mobile Commerce

Keynote has noticed a considerable improvement to the retailer’s mobile page load time.

Keynote Systems has noted a reduction of nearly seven seconds from the Sports Authority m-commerce site’s page load time, bringing it down to an average 11.45 seconds, which is immeasurably better than it had been in previous weeks.

This appears to be the result of an important change in platforms that was made by the retailer.

Keynote, a mobile and web performance management firm, recorded a tremendous 6.73 second reduction in the average time that it took to load the homepage of the m-commerce site. This occurred in the week that ended on May 19, 2013, when compared to the week beforehand. It looks as though Sports Authority had been building and hosting its site in-house until that time.

This situation helps to illustrate the importance of hiring m-commerce professionals for site performance.

At the time of the writing of this article, Sports Authority – Internet Retailer Mobile 400 company number 161 – was not responding to requests for comments on the improvements that have been made. The week beforehand, which ended on May 12, Sports Authority’s m-commerce homepage was loading at an average of 18.18 seconds. Furthermore, its site availability, that is, the rate of successful completed loads, was 99.45 percent, according to Keynote’s data.

When the site availability and the load time were combined, the retailer had earned a score of 717 out of a possible 1,000 on the Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index. This meant that it took the 20th position out of 30 companies that are included on that index.

However, during the most recent week, the m-commerce load time had been reduced to 11.45 seconds with a success rate of 99.14 percent. This brought its score up to 795 and shot its position on the index up to the 12th spot. According to Keynote mobile performance evangelist, Herman Ng, since the site was switched to a mobile web platform, “the first obvious difference was a dramatic reduction in the total size and the number of objects that constitute the page. This reduction resulted in a vastly improved page load time performance.”

Mobile commerce sees growth through coupons

Mobile commerce is seeing aggressive expansion throughout the world. This explosive growth is due to various factors, some of which are more mundane than others. One of the factors driving the growth of mobile commerce is the use of mobile coupons. These coupons are specifically designed for consumers with mobile devices, providing them with a way to save on products they enjoy in a convenient manner. The coupons are also powerful marketing tools and have succeeded in drawing more attention to mobile commerce in various sectors.

Report highlights value of mobile coupons

A new report from BI Intelligence, a leading market research firm, sheds some light on why mobile coupons are contributing to the growth of mobile commerce. The report suggests that these coupons are helping drive traffic to online stores and physical stores alike. Coupons that can be redeemed at physical stores have been especially popular with consumers and have proven to be an effective way to draw consumers into these stores rather than allowing them to linger online.

Coupons could be an effective data collection tool

Beyond the financial aspects of mobile coupons is the data that these tools acquire. When these coupons are used, they are able to collect information from consumers, which is quite valuable for the businesses behind the coupons. This data can be used to develop more engaging marketing campaigns or create more effective mobile commerce services. For some companies, this information has helped drive yet more traffic to physical stores.

Coupons supply incentive to mobile commerce

Mobile coupons have helped create more familiarity between consumers and mobile commerce. The coupons have also provided consumers with a reason to actually participate in mobile commerce. Consumers often only need a modest incentive to embrace something new and mobile coupons have been able to provide a way for consumers to justify mobile payments to some degree.