How to Optimize Mobile Onboarding for E-commerce Platforms

Background

Our client is a leading e-commerce platform that enables anyone to create and run an online store. They wanted to understand the needs, preferences and challenges of mobile-first merchants in India, who use their mobile phones as the primary device to set up and manage their online businesses.

Brief

We conducted a remote video interview study with 15 participants, who were either existing or potential mobile-first merchants in India. We explored their business background, motivations, goals, device usage, platform choice and experience with setting up and running their online stores from mobile.

Methodology

Remote research with 15 participants across India with the following methods:
- Online interviews: We observed how participants use their mobile devices to create and run their online businesses, and asked them to explain their goals, motivations, and actions.
- Task analysis: We asked participants to perform various tasks related to setting up and managing their online stores on different platforms, and recorded their feedback, difficulties, and satisfaction.
Participants were segmented into two groups: established merchants and aspirational merchants.
Each session lasted for 60 minutes.

Quick Facts

Mobile is the preferred device for most participants to create and run their online businesses, due to its convenience, ease of use and customer empathy.
Most participants had positive experiences with setting up their online stores from mobile, but also faced some challenges such as taxation, shipping, customization and analytics.
Most participants used various apps and tools to manage their businesses from mobile, such as delivery services, accounting software, document scanners and social media channels.

Results

The study revealed some key insights about the mobile onboarding experience of potential merchants in India, such as:

Social media channels such as Facebook and Instagram are the main sources of traffic and sales for online businesses.
Most participants considered multiple platforms before choosing their current one, based on factors such as features, integrations, pricing, customer support and brand reputation
The client’s platform is perceived as a feature-rich, trusted, and customer-friendly platform by its users. However, some users face issues with GST taxation, return management, theme customization, and customer support.
Aspirational merchants are in the planning stage of their online businesses and need guidance on how to sell online, how to set up an online store, and how to market their products.

Based on these insights, we provided some actionable recommendations for our client to improve the mobile onboarding experience for potential merchants in India. Some of these recommendations are:

Focus on refer-a-friend/ affiliate programs to attract new merchants to the client’s platform.
Provide ways to create personalised shopping experiences for different customer groups.
Provide a beginner-level analytics dashboard to help aspirational merchants learn about analytics.
Make the customer support option more prominent on the client’s website and app for quicker access.