Mobile Traffic Grows, Patience Slumps: Adobe

Using mobiles to browse websites continues to grow as a trend, but the overall experience remains just a little bit shit, with most people still reverting to desktop if they actually want to buy something, according to the latest iteration of the Adobe Digital Insights (ADI) Best of the Best report.

Growth in mobile commerce as well as overall mobile traffic is also being led social media, especially Facebook, with all companies surveyed having a presence on the major platforms.

The study compares the overall average versus websites in the top 20% on various key performance indicators. Analysis is based on aggregated and anonymous data from 100 billion visits to more than 3,000 websites in Asia during the 2015 calendar year.

The analysis shows how the best digital marketing organisations are performing relative to the average across six regions: ANZ, Japan, India, Hong Kong, South Korea and Southeast Asia – across various industries.

Adobe’s Asia Pacific President Paul Robson wrote on his blog: “The report shows consumers are becoming less willing to waste time browsing and demanding better experiences on their mobile devices. These frustrations and shorter attention spans mean people still prefer to convert on desktops.”

In addition to leading APAC in social media traffic rates, the best ANZ brands are moving away from the average, indicating that it is essential to understand multi-touch social marketing and emphasises the importance of social channels.

Smartphone traffic increased for the best of the best and average websites, indicating that brands are optimising smartphone content. In addition, all industries saw a year-over-year increase in smartphone traffic, while desktop traffic decreased in ANZ and across all industries.

Despite mobile still being below standard, the best brands have pulled way ahead of the average in smartphone conversion rates (129% difference) – the highest increase in APAC. If you get it right, there are rewards to be had.

Smartphone average monthly website visits per visitor decreased, showing that while traffic is high, repeat visits from the same individual decreased.

Time spent on a smartphone lags behind both desktops and tablets, indicating that websites have not reached their full potential regarding mobile optimisation. However, APAC consumers generally spend more time on a website than US-based consumers.

Stickiness has decreased among both the best and average brands, though ANZ is still among one of the highest in APAC with the average (44.9%) falling just behind that of South Korea for the average and behind Hong Kong for the best of the best. Again, the best are pulling away from the average, indicating those who invest in methods to attract and retain traffic are succeeding in the delivery of relevant and engaging website experiences.

In terms of average websites, ANZ sees the second highest visit rate on both desktop (1.67 per month) and smartphone (1.57 per month), coming in behind Japan. This equates to higher loyalty and return traffic.

Looking more broadly across the region, nearly all top performing APAC brands in every industry have a Twitter, Facebook and YouTube presence, with retail and travel and hospitality leading the pack.

Media and entertainment is the standout industry across APAC for driving social traffic from social media efforts, while telecommunications and financial services were the worst performers in driving social traffic.

In terms of device performance, APAC outpaces the US and Europe on average smartphone stickiness and consumption rates across smartphones, tablets and desktop.

The top three sectors for smartphone traffic were telecommunications (44.3%), media and entertainment (37%) and retail (36.6%).

The fastest growing sectors for average mobile conversion year-on-year growth were retail and travel and hospitality.

“What does this report mean for marketers? If you haven’t already optimised mobile conversions, now is the time to do it,” concluded Robson.

Read the full Best of the Best report here.

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Adobe Digital Insights Advertising Standards Bureau Paul Robson SBS