Fashion gets mobile

Sascha Breuss MD of Zando with Charles Makwara at the Zando warehouse.

Online shopping behaviour

The case can be built by taking a closer look at the stats. The 2012 Online Shopping Behaviour Study conducted by MasterCard found that 92.6% of the active online population is able to access the Internet on their mobile phones which remains at a similar level as in 2011. This can also be compared to the Census 2011 findings which stated that 89% of South African households had a mobile phone, with an average of 3.4 persons per household.

Google published a case study on Zando.co.za's successful m-Commerce strategy which showed that its mobile transactions had increased by 829% over 10 months.

According to Zando.co.za's mobile marketing manager, Bronwen Forster, "South Africa is in a unique position in terms of mobile marketing. As an emerging market, where access to internet is cheaper via the mobile device than on a desktop, the potential and chance for mobile innovation is substantial. More South Africans have access to a mobile than they do to clean drinking water."

Keys to success

Having a mobile-optimised website is the key foundation to a successful, mobile retail strategy.

According to Forster, "There is no point paying for great quality traffic and then failing to cater for it. Mobile device detection or responsive design websites suit the new Enhanced campaign launch from Google AdWords. This means there is no need to target mobile and desktop separately. Your site needs to be ready to handle whatever device is coming its way."

Zando.co.za's mobile-optimized website features a search functionality and has also reduced the number of steps required to complete a purchase, thus decreasing the rate of cart abandonment. Mobile-focused campaigns were launched in July 2012 and since then, the total traffic coming from mobile devices has increased over 100% and mobile channel campaign revenue increasing by an average of 142% month on month.

During the period of October to November 2012, there was a significant increase in the conversion rate and the number of actual sales generated from mobile devices. This upward trend in performance corresponded with South Africa's busiest retail and seasonal shopping period.

Zando.co.za saw an 87% increase in transactions and a 49% increase in visits. Mobile visits increased at a much higher rate than desktop visits. On Friday 23 November 2012, sales went up by 114% in relation to the previous Friday's transactions.

The top selling category was women's footwear, with clothing (specifically T-shirts), flat sandals and pumps following closely. The men's category was not far behind with the T-shirt category performing well. Footwear was the highest grossing category overall.

Change with the season

Forster says, "Seasonality should play a leading role in your strategy conception, especially within fashion. Adapt your mobile messaging regularly to suit key trends, events and seasonal necessities. Zando.co.za increased its mobile focus by creating a mobile-optimized website which increased the Google AdWords Search conversion rates by 260% and sales spiked dramatically by 572% into the retail high season. Once we fully optimized our mobile ads and gained insights into the purchase funnel from mobile devices, we discovered a decrease in our campaign cost per acquisition of 45% over a two month period."

When asked what the secret to a successful m-Commerce strategy is, Forster replied, "It's all about the people, customers and your colleagues. At Zando.co.za we have an amazing team consisting of a web analyst, developers, designers, PR and channel managers that are all dedicated to helping me build our mobile culture. Strategise realistically, optimise on a daily basis and nurture your campaigns health diligently. Consider your consumers above all else and put all your effort into making their experience optimal and exceptional."