People Are Spending Record Amounts of Time on Phones: So Why Are Mobile-Based Sales Lagging?

Remember eyeballs? It was a metric. And as such it was accorded an elevated level of respect because, first of all, it was a number, which meant it was derived from math, a subject most of the population fears.

But also, because it wasn't one of these bloodless GAAP accounting head-fakes attempting to explain something that only the financial priesthood could discern. It actually measured something real. Or so people thought. And there was a time, back in the halcyon days of dotcom, when lots of smart people thought that was a measure of attention.

It just made sense: the more time you spent on a site, the more interested you were, right? And that would pretty much automatically lead to sales because, well, why wouldn't it? And if you doubted that, you were, sadly one of those who  'just don't get it.'

But it turned out that famous metrics then were not unlike famous metrics now. Not necessarily what they appeared to be. Further research demonstrated that the time people were spending on a website - from their desktop or laptop - often was the result of their immensely frustrating inability to enter a credit card number. Or worse, that they were on-hold with customer service - back when customer service meant you could talk to a human - and when there even was customer service.

So the fact, as the following article explains, that people are spending record amounts of time on their phones is not leading to similar increases in sales (so far, we hasten to add) - and that credit cards are once again a primary suspect - suggests that the move to more seamless mobile transactions is rather more urgent - and potentially profitable - than current emphasis might indicate. It may, in fact, be essential. JL

Jason Del Rey reports in Re/code:

Shopping on mobile phones is growing at its fastest rate ever. But there’s still a huge gap between how much time shoppers spend on mobile websites and apps, and the percentage of total e-commerce sales that happen on these mobile sites. One big reason for this 44 percent gap: entering credit card and shipping details on a phone can be a pain, both on mobile websites and in apps.
There are still big questions about what benefits brick-and-mortar retailers get from letting their customers pay with phone-based payment services like Apple Pay and Android Pay. The same can’t be said for online retailers and shopping apps, and just-released data from comScore helps explains why.
Shopping on mobile phones is growing at its fastest rate ever. But there’s still a huge gap between how much time shoppers spend on mobile websites and apps, and the percentage of total e-commerce sales that happen on these mobile sites.

One big reason for this 44 percent gap: Entering in credit card and shipping details on a phone can be a pain, both on mobile websites and in apps.
Services like Apple Pay and Android Pay have eliminated a lot of that work in partnering apps, by filling in those details automatically. And as Re/code reported, Apple Pay will be coming to mobile websites soon, too.
If the gap between time spent and dollars spent on mobile sites is going to close, these services are going to be a big reason why.