As the Christmas period approached and the rise of mobile shopping became more established, Littlewoods saw an opportunity to develop its mobile service into a fully optimised user experience. Adding affiliate tracking to the company's mobile commerce site enabled a mobile growth drive, with successful results reported.
The mobile landscapeWith mobile commerce experiencing considerable growth in recent years, online department store Littlewoods took action to make the most of the growth curve, believing significant benefits were to be gained by providing visitors with a fully optimised mobile experience. As well as being in a better position to convert visitors that have landed on the site through a mobile device, a user friendly mobile experience has also been proven to increase the basket value of those customers.The company also identified that tracking mobile transactions had been a challenge for many operators in the performance market, with many failing to add affiliate tracking to their mobile commerce site.
SolutionLittlewoods was aware that adding affiliate tracking to its mobile optimised site would enable it to capitalise on the publisher opportunities available through the channel. With more consumers expected to turn to mobile commerce in the run up to Christmas, the company wanted to be in a position to convert the increased number of visitors through mobile devices.The optimised site ensured there was a seamless user journey and by adding affiliate tracking, publishers were safe in the knowledge they would receive commissions for their marketing efforts.Visitors were provided an intuitive user experience allowing them to easily transact through mobile devices. With a simple menu that could be easily navigated, visitors were able to find the products they were looking for, add them to their basket and ultimately check out through a mobile device.
ResultsIn the peak December period consumers were turning to their mobile devices in large numbers to transact and Littlewoods saw five per cent of all sales from the affiliate channel being generated through mobile handsets. The results also showed those customers buying through mobile devices were spending more than their counterparts who were purchasing through desktops. Visitors through a mobile handset are typically directed to the mobile optimised version of a site. The company saw a large increase in the average order values of customers that had purchased through the optimised site when compared to customers who opted to buy through the desktop version of the site through their handsets.This was seen across a broad range of affiliate promotional types. A leading cashback site saw a considerable uplift of 55 per cent in AOV when transacting through the mobile optimised version of the site, while a key content site saw the greatest improvement – with AOV 78 per cent higher.The impact of a mobile optimised site on their conversion rate was clearly evident too. They converted at double the rate of an advertiser in the same sector that does not offer an optimised user journey through mobile handsets.Littlewoods had already been successful with the launch of its mobile site and adding affiliate tracking ensured they were able to capitalise on the growth in m-commerce through the affiliate channel. With a significant volume of traffic already being driven by mobile devices and this trend expected to grow with more publishers embracing mobile, Littlewoods is well placed to take full advantage of this.
