Knowing where to find consumers and how to give them what they want is a major aspect of marketing, and the results of a recent ShopVisible report provide valuable insight for retailers. The Influence & Impact report focused on retail customer trends concerning marketing, various shopping channels, payment methods and more, and the results showed that ecommerce traffic grew, especially when it came to mobile and tablet use.

"Our Influence and Impact report serves sellers by helping them make informed decisions about omnichannel commerce trends. Chiefly, mobile commerce is booming, so online retailers must provide an optimized experience on all devices, or potentially risk losing sales," said Sean Cook, CEO and co-founder of ShopVisible.

Mobile and tablet use drove retail traffic
The survey results showed that site traffic is increasingly coming from mobile devices and tablets, as these accounted for 20 percent of site traffic during the holiday season, and 30 percent for the entire year. Not only are handheld devices becoming more prominent among consumers, but the need to implement ecommerce software that caters to this technology will only increase. Optimizing a retail site for mobile use can help convert site visitors to paying customers.

Omnichannel strategies remain important
When it came to online sales, the survey found that only 4 percent of shoppers made purchases through their smartphones and only 11 percent used tablets to buy online. The other 85 percent made their online purchases via desktops, which had the highest conversion rate of 2.5 percent. Mobile and tablet conversion rates came in at 0.5 and 1.6 percent, respectively.

Streamlining ecommerce software to make it easier for consumers to seamlessly switch from mobile to desktop may prove beneficial, especially if retailers are willing to examine their point of sale services. More shoppers were using alternatives to credit cards to make purchases online last year, as the survey found more than 25 percent of orders were made with services like Amazon Payments, PayPal and Bill Me Later.

Optimizing online experience will prove most useful
Although 2013 saw an 8 percent increase in overall site traffic, the survey found that only 35 percent of visits to retail sites were made by returning customers. This is a clear indicator that online merchants should consider focusing on retail technology that improves the online shopping experience across every channel to reap the most reward. Having POS software that allows customers to easily transition between platforms may be a cornerstone of change that leads to more sales and repeat business.