Adobe urges brands not to neglect mobile experience

• Change in viewing habits of users point to more mobile-centric content
• Companies that fail to recognise this are at risk of being left behind

DATA from Adobe Digital Insights (AD) Best of the Best research reveals a seismic shift in the consumption habits of users in Southeast Asia (SEA) whereby there is a significant decrease in time spent on websites at 13% while at the same time there was a 40% growth in smartphone conversion (average orders or bookings per visit) rates.

The figures point to an evolution in the way consumers engage with brands as their attention spans shorten and network connection speeds improve across the region.

Despite the falling desktop traffic across Asia Pacific (APAC), SEA businesses are still driving consumer purchases largely via desktops instead of smartphones. Brands should not ignore the rise of smartphones that will fast overtake desktops.

“SEA’s smartphone conversions have grown incredibly over the past year, but are still falling behind other countries measured, with significant room for improvements,” observed Adobe Systems head of digital transformation Scott Rigby (pic, above).

To him, brands need to quickly adapt to this change in the way consumers are engaging on the web. Worryingly, organisations are overly dependent on desktop traffic and not optimised for smartphones. If they do not change they may find themselves at risk of becoming obsolete as smartphone share of visits continues to multiply.

“Sites need to be optimised for every type of device the customer is using be it a desktop, smartphone or tablet. Another question they should ask is whether it is suitable to be channelled via a 2G, 3G or 4G network,” he added.

Rigby also stressed the importance of delivering a seamless yet consistent experience for customers across devices as research shows that 40% of consumers use multiple devices before conversion.

One example is the manner in which a consumer that may come across a product of interest on their morning commute using their smartphone, researches it on their desktop at work and finally makes the purchase on their tablet at home later at night.

Rigby presented Adobe’s research findings in conjunction with Adobe Experience Forum 2017 where 250 business leaders gathered to discuss how their organisations can transform to become Experience Businesses.

During the forum, top brands including Grab, Hong Leong Bank, Maxis, Taylor’s University and Blaze Digital took the stage while top sponsors included Amazon Web Services, Mirum and VML.

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