Tag: m-commerce

M-commerce apps used more often by iPhone than Android users

| April 19, 2013

m-commerce app mobile shoppingThe results of a recent study have indicated that Apple smartphone users shop over applications the most.

Arbitron has just released the results of its most recent marketing research study, and has revealed that when it comes to m-commerce apps, iPhone owners are using them much more often than Android smartphone owners.

The difference in the proportion of device owners who are using these apps is a considerable one.

The study showed that 67.5 percent of iPhone owners also use m-commerce apps, when compared to Android smartphone owners, among whom only 43. 9 percent use these applications. This could suggest that for companies with apps, iPhone customers may be their sweetest plum.

There was also a difference in the amount that the device users were spending over m-commerce apps.

Among iPhone users, the average number of m-commerce trips over apps every month was 35. Moreover, they spent an average of 105.5 minutes shopping using their smartphones every month. On the other hand, Android smartphone users went on an average of 29.5 virtual shopping trips every month, during which time they spent an average 87.6 minutes on the task.

The report on the results of the survey did not suggest any conclusions as to why this difference exists between the m-commerce app usage habits of iPhone owners and those of Android smartphone owners.

There has been third party speculation that while there are about the same total number of apps available in both formats, there may be more m-commerce apps that are available exclusively for Apple devices. Moreover, there has been a trend of releasing some apps over iOS first, with a wait time of several weeks or months before an Android option becomes available. Instagram has been used as a well known example of this trend, as there was an 18 month wait for Android users after iOS users were already enjoying the application.

That said, this data was not included in the Arbitron research, which examined only the m-commerce app usage habits. It did not go on to investigate what might be the causes behind those behaviors by each type of device user.

M-commerce website performance for clothing retailer website improves

| April 17, 2013

American Eagle Outfitters m-commerceAmerican Eagle Outfitters makes it into the Keynote Systems top 10 out of 30 sites.

The teen fashion retail chain, American Eagle Outfitters has seen a considerable jump in the performance of its m-commerce website particularly because of its successful load completions and rapid loading time.

The website was recorded to have an average load speed of 11.23 seconds for its homepage.

Until the most recent Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index ranking was released, American Eagle Outfitters Inc. had never been included among the leading performers. This changed in the latest report, which included the statistics for the week that ended on April 7.

The retailer’s m-commerce performance rank leapt up by 9 positions due to some important changes.

This marked the first time that the retailer made it into the top 10, as it ranked tenth out of the thirty sites that are included on the index. This favorable ranking was achieved after the site’s m-commerce homepage loaded at an average rate 11.23 seconds. That same page was able to load successfully and completely 99.87 percent of the time.

When these two figures were brought together using the Keynote m-commerce ranking system, it scored the company a 741 out of a possible 1,000. The progress that the retailer made with their website performance was explained by one of Keynote’s mobile performance experts, Venkatesh Giri, who said that “American Eagle cut down extra page objects and optimized its site for a better mobile experience,” going on to explain that “Its mobile home page is serving up 30 objects which add up to 220 kilobytes.”

The retailer has been applying a number of design techniques for m-commerce websites that are known to be helpful in boosting performance. Cutting back on objects was a start, but they also used sprite files for all of the icons and images on the page, which allowed them to be saved as one, reducing server calls and therefore the time needed to load the page.

Giri said that slashing the number of unnecessary objects on an m-commerce page without sacrificing the functionality and look of the site is one of the most critical elements of optimizing for smartphones and tablets.