One provides infrastructure, and the other creates experience

They share the first five letters. One’s an adjective. The other is a noun. They sound alike, but they’ve come to mean different things. And if you mistake one for the other, you’ll miss the coming wave of opportunity.

What’s the difference? Mobile is about technology. Mobility is about experience. There’s more to it than a definition. Here’s what you need to know, and why:

The one you want

Mobility trumps mobile. One runs the other. It’s like hardware and software. Mobile is linked to the device you put in your pocket, whereas mobility is what can be accomplished with the device. The context changes with our cultures.

In the United States, it’s how we keep up with our friends and family on Facebook and Instagram. Throughout Africa, SMS technology is how people pay their bills. The majority of individuals have no use for a bank.

Mobile itself is the infrastructure. Mobility is what weaves a context and makes the technology useful.

Mobility takes us where we need to go next

Your mobile device is just a device. Little of it is geared to give you an experience, and experience is what we demand. Mobility gives us access to connectivity. For example, we’re no longer impressed if a brand has finally launched a mobile website so we can use it on our smartphone.

Today we expect the brands that impress us to adopt a “mobile-first” mindset. This pushes them to transition from device to experience. The companies that understand this have repositioned their relationship with customers. They don’t ask themselves, “What content can we serve to a mobile device?” They instead ask, “How can we provide an experience that communicates our brand and value proposition?”

The result is the experience of seeing something you like, purchasing it with the merchant’s app, paying for it with a bank’s network, and scheduling it for delivery. All with a couple of taps on a mobile device. And afterwards, updating your social networks about what you just snagged.

A customer journey

Companies used to think only about what to serve up on a screen based on its size. Our mobile devices allow us to consume content in different places. Our expectation of that content changes depending on where we are, and even what we consume changes with our context.

If you’re still just taking your online content and optimizing it for mobile devices, you’re still looking at things from a device perspective. Mobility requires you to look at what you serve up on the screen from an experience perspective.

Does mobile make sense?

The answer is no, if you’re struggling to come up with content for mobile devices because you believe you have to, rather than because it fits your business model.

If you agree that mobility is about experience, does your company provide a product or service that can take advantage of it? The lack of a confident answer means it’s wise to pause. It’s never a good idea to place tactics before strategy.

Consider the resources you’ll squander as you scramble to create something mobile because everybody else is doing it. Wouldn’t it be a better investment to study whether your customers even want it? And the likelihood is high that they won’t want it unless it grabs technology, integrates previously unrelated actions, and serves up an unexpected experience on a portable device. Your customers don’t want mobile content. They crave the experience of mobility.

Still not clear? Consider the mobility experience Uber has created for people who use devices on the go. You’d be hard pressed to find an example more fitting to define the difference between mobile and mobility.

It’s easy to see that some whole industries still have little need to adopt this mindset. They have no ability, or no reason, to get out and become an experience for their customers using a mobile device.

At least not presently. But technology changes things. Determine whether mobility can bring the experience of your product or service to customers. Now you have a strategy for using technology (mobile) that’s based on the understanding of experience (mobility).

To find out more about how to optimize your online presence, including how to take advantage of the opportunities presented by crafting a valuable, effective user experience, contact the online strategy and design experts at Creative Technology Partners.

It’s the Internet of 1999 all over again

Statistics make it clear. The Internet of Things (IoT) is gathering more data and using more devices, from more users, than at any time in history. And it’s only just begun.

Where is it all going? How will it be stored? Who’s keeping it safe? Some ask these questions out of curiosity. Others ask them because they’ll only stay in business if they have the right answers. The industry creates its own solutions as it invents itself.

By the numbers

Just how much data are we talking about? Here are some recent counts of the devices creating the data tsunami:

• 9 million smart thermostats, smart smoke and CO2 detectors, Wi-Fi cameras, smart locks, smart home systems, and smart switches, dimmers, and outlets to be sold this year

• 14 million smartwatches to be sold this year

• 17 million fitness trackers to be sold this year

• 38 million wearables to be sold this year

Looking ahead to the end of the decade:

• 6 billion mobile users

• 600 million wearable devices in use

• 16 billion Internet of Things-enabled devices (excluding mobile phones)

A practical (sort of) example

It’s difficult to wrap our heads around those kinds of numbers, but extrapolating the amount of data involved can be even more of a challenge. So, here’s a scenario for just one IoT device we all can understand.

It’s estimated that by next year (2017), 80 percent of all new cars will be connected to the Internet. Each will send 25 gigabytes of data to the cloud for every hour it’s operated. The annual total is 130 terabytes of data per car.

Here’s the final part to that equation. IHS Automotive predicts that U.S. auto sales in 2017 will be 18.2 million. This means more than 14.5 million vehicles will each generate 130 terabytes, or almost 1.9 million petabytes of data.

1 petabyte is 1,000 terabytes. A quick check on Amazon lists the price of a 5TB hard drive at about $133. So you would need about 400 of them costing around $53,000 to store the first year’s worth of information.

That’s just the cost of the data storage devices. We’ve barely scratched the surface. You’ll still have to add data transmission, electricity costs, backup, and much more to even begin to estimate a realistic idea of the cost to facilitate data for just one type of the 16 billion IoT devices we’ll have around us by 2020.

Who’s guarding our IoT data?

Before you consider the answer, ask yourself who’s in charge of security on the Internet. Billions of dollars are spent on technology security, and it can’t completely prevent hackers from breaching even the most secure data centers. Data security for IoT devices is primitive compared to what you experience when you use your computer to pay your bills.

Human nature and the necessity to change default passwords are at a conflict. Gartner predicts the average family home could have more than 500 smart devices by 2022. If we can’t be bothered to change the default password on the handful we have now, we’re in for big trouble by the end of the decade.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that your new IoT gadget even has a password or offers data encryption. There’s no standard at the moment. Data security tends to be more of a marketing effort than a prerequisite. And maybe that’s because we haven’t quite fully understood what all this unguarded information could do if used inappropriately, or if it fell into the wrong hands.

Here’s an interesting scenario. You go to apply for life insurance. You’re turned down. The reason? The life insurance company accessed the data from your wearable fitness device, which shows that you are, shall we say, living an unhealthy life.

The push for privacy

Too much data coming from all those IoT devices might make it impossible for companies to make a scenario like the one about the life insurance company above come true. In an altruistic IoT world, all this data makes it a better place to live.

An example of this is Amazon. If you’re a frequent user, you already know that the online retailer tracks not only the products you buy, but also those you look at. As time goes by, Amazon gets better at recommending items based on your searches.

Our IoT devices have the ability, if used appropriately, to take the Amazon approach to the next level. There are big hopes for what can be done with all that data from IoT devices. The possibilities of those intentions remain to be seen.

For more insights on the impact of changing technology and the Internet of Things, contact the experts at Creative Technology Partners. We stay abreast of all developments in the realm of online technology, and we provide software engineering, strategic user experience, and design services.

Mobile shoppers want responsive sites that take advantage of mobile screens

ComScore says we’re past the mobile tipping point. We’re not just using our mobile devices to talk, more of us are using them to shop. But our frustration with eCommerce is that mobile sites are far less satisfying than the full website versions.

Statistics show we’d prefer surfing on the go. Google searches conducted on mobile devices have surpassed desktop use. No one argues this: If you don’t have a mobile-optimized website, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business. And if your mobile site can’t be used to make purchases, you’re missing out on even more sales. Here are five responsive characteristics your site needs to drive eCommerce.

1. Google ranks mobile higher

Does your eCommerce site show up near the top of Google searches? The search giant now includes “mobile friendliness” in its ranking criteria. Be sure to read this article to understand what they are looking for. And if you feel that your eCommerce site is ready, head here and let Google give it a mobile-friendly test.

2. Mobile users spend more shopping online

There’s psychology afoot here. Consumer behavior research confirms that credit card shoppers tend to spend more than those with cash. The explanation is that swiping that card has less of a feeling of parting with your money than handing over bills. Studies also have discovered that people who analyze their purchases spend less.

Both of these factors have a correlation with mobile shopping. Online shoppers use credit cards to make purchases and mobile shoppers often shop while doing other things. Many of these tend to be impulse buys.

Fast Company recently cited a study by Adobe Digital Marketing Insights that showed that mobile shoppers spend 20 percent more than laptop/desktop shoppers. This percentage jumps to 50 percent if a mobile shopper is on a tablet device.

3. They want to engage

It’s been shown that mobile users like to use these devices in tandem with other activities. They’ll often search the web for purchases while watching TV, or if they’re stuck in traffic.

It’s an instant gratification thing. If they see an opportunity, they want to act on it. And if it’s a purchase they want to make, they’ll want an interface that’s been made responsive. That includes the ability to ask for help in making a buying decision.

eCommerce sites with responsive mobile versions don’t have to spend as much effort trying to convince customers to make the buy. There’s a high likelihood they came to the mobile site to make the purchase in the first place.

The mobile version of your eCommerce site must take advantage of screen orientation, functionality, and loading time. The easiest way to accomplish this is by making it responsive.

4. The right moment

Mobile devices are interactive communication devices. You can reach customers with the right offer at the right time, based on their physical location. Offers based on geolocation are highly effective. These, combined with responsive formatting designed for smaller screens, as well as the ability to instantly see customer reviews or check social media for recommendations, make mobile eCommerce a potent selling tool.

5. Bust through cart abandonment

One of the biggest reasons online shoppers decide not to make a purchase is because of shipping costs they didn’t anticipate. They’re ready to buy until the price is no longer right.

If your responsive mobile eCommerce site uses geolocation services, you can short-circuit this customer turn-off. Responsive sites take advantage of location services, and pricing can already include the cost of shipping and handling, rather than having it be an unpleasant addition at the end of the process.

Even if they don’t buy …

Shoppers are looking at your online store with their mobile devices. They expect to have an experience that takes advantage of their smaller screen. You can’t ignore this expectation.

Even if you don’t secure the sale, users leave your site with an impression. Is that impression conducive to a positive, measurable return?

If you’re looking to optimize your site for mobile commerce, contact the professionals at Creative Technology Partners. We have the expertise to meet all of your adaptive content needs and optimize a site that will capture and please your customers – on any screen. ]]> http://ctp.us/2016/06/5-responsive-reasons-your-mobile-site-needs-to-drive-ecommerce/feed/ 0