Building a Mobile-First Customer Journey

The rise of mobile commerce means that it’s no longer enough for eCommerce stores to be mobile-friendly—you need to be mobile-first.

Mobile commerce grows every year and is expected to make up more than 44% of eCommerce sales in 2024. And that’s just in the United States—globally, 80% of online sales occur on a mobile device.

To run a successful eComm business, it’s important to meet customers where they are—and whether they’re at work, home, or even in a brick-and-mortar store, they’re on their phones. Mobile shoppers are looking for ease, convenience, and speed at every stage in the customer journey, and merchants need to rise to meet their needs.

Improving the mobile checkout experience

Despite so much growth, mobile checkout can still be an arduous process for a shopper. Typing in their credit card information every time can be time-consuming and inconvenient, especially when they’re on the go. Cart abandonment rates are much higher on mobile, a whopping 85% vs. 74% on desktop.

To streamline the checkout process, shoppers are increasingly embracing digital payments. Apps like PayPal and digital wallets like Google Play, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay make it easier for customers to input their payment information at checkout. And wallets like Apple Pay offer additional benefits, allowing users to store driver’s licenses or state IDs, transit cards, event tickets, keys, and more in addition to their credit or debit cards.

Apple Pay is the most popular digital wallet, with a 92% market share. It’s most popular with younger shoppers—73% of shoppers born between 1997 and 2012 report using Apple Pay at least once per week, while less than 50% of those born before 1965 have used it. As Gen Z’s buying power increases, the ubiquity of Apple Pay is likely to follow.

It’s important for merchants to offer a variety of popular digital payment options at checkout. Otherwise, they might end up with an abandoned cart and a shopper who may never return.

Building a mobile-first post-purchase journey

The mobile commerce journey doesn’t end when a shopper completes a purchase. Customers want to know the status of their package at every stage. Ensuring a mobile-first post-purchase experience is just as important as it is at checkout.

Research shows that up to 90% of consumers want to be able to track their orders, and 60% will consider competitors if a retailer cannot provide that capability.

AfterShip’s integration with Apple Wallet adds another layer of functionality to digital payments—the ability to track their orders in real time from within the wallet. This integration increases transparency during the delivery process and helps build loyalty between online merchants and their customers.

By simply clicking the Track with Apple Wallet button on a merchant’s order confirmation page, order tracking page, or within email and SMS notifications, shoppers can easily add their order information to Apple Wallet and receive notifications whenever there’s an update about their order status.

Learn more about how AfterShip’s Apple Wallet Order Tracking helps merchants deliver ease, convenience, and improved customer satisfaction post-purchase.