Tips on m-commerce in Taiwan, Hong Kong: Yahoo

Our m-commerce 'Purple Paper', published in September, suggests that buyers can be categorised into four major ‘streams’ of buyers based on their purchasing behavior:

• Loyal (26.1 per cent), those whose mobile shopping behavior has become habitual, without needing an incentive
• Impulsive (33.4 per cent), those who make an impulse purchase after they see an item they desire during mobile browsing
• Prompt (19.1 per cent), those whose mobile purchases are driven by immediate needs and induced by seeing product displays when walking past a shop
• Practical (19.7 per cent), those who would purchase on mobile only when they are offered a discount or special incentive via mobile coupons or SMS.

With these latter two streams in particular accounting for nearly 40 per cent mobile purchase decisions in mind, along with other indicators, we believe O2O (online to offline) is becoming more significant to users’ mobile daily lives and it is going to be the next frontier for m-commerce.

However, there is an art as to who comes out on top in this battle shaping up. Here are some tips for success:

Buy now with barcode/ QR code

Over one-third of the mobile shoppers surveyed say they are more prone to comparing product prices or purchasing via mobile if an electronic code is clearly presented physically. A number of household brands in Taiwan, including Cosmed, P&G, Kao, Kingstone, Komonoya, Metroasis and Temptation, started offering consumers close to 20,000 items available for barcode/ QR code scanning, via the ‘Yahoo Store App’, an m-commerce app newly launched by Yahoo in April 2014. Consumers are able to make instant online purchases by scanning the barcodes or QR codes on out-of-home advertisements, or on chosen physical products at the stores. Instead of buying the item from the physical store, consumers can enjoy delivery service and avoid the hassle of carrying the goods on the go. Also, by scanning the barcodes on consumed products’ packaging, consumers can restock the items directly online, enabling instant and convenient access to merchandise. With the service being widely welcomed by customers, it is expected to be extended to 50,000 items by the end of the year. 

Location-based services (LBS) and discount on-the-go (mobile coupons)

Offering discounts to shoppers at physical stores with LBS coupons and push notifications, or via a social media mobile application, can trigger purchase desire and hence transaction. In fact, more than half of the mobile shoppers surveyed wish to receive mobile coupons when they are at the physical store, and express a higher level of motivation to use an e-shopping app if shops proactively offer them coupons.

Push notifications

Using push messaging also encourages m-commerce on the go, anytime, anywhere. In September 2014, Yahoo Shopping worked with Hong Kong Airlines to offer 3,000 discounted Okinawa-Hong Kong economy class and 1,000 business class return flight tickets via Yahoo Shopping. The campaign went viral on Yahoo’s Facebook fans page and this, together with mobile push messaging in LINE Hong Kong and Macau, created mass peer-to-peer content and social sharing that brought the campaign great success in terms of both volume and revenue. All 3,000 economy class tickets were sold out in no time, approximating to 140 tickets sold per minute, and the push notification helped drive the excellent results whereby more than 90 per cent transactions were made via mobile devices.

Streamlining the checkout process

Many retailers tend to invest in the design, product assortment and merchandising of their mobile sites, aiming to increase sales but forgetting about shopping cart security and the convenience of the checkout process. Retailers and sellers should adopt a one-stop secured payment gateway provided by their e-commerce platform for customers to check out via mobile. Real-time payment processing and auto settlement provide buyers and sellers with a much faster and safer online transaction experience.

Joann Chen is VP of audience & business management of Yahoo APAC