We're taking a close look at Google Analytics data to find useful, actionable information for jewelry stores.
Today we took a close look at the most popular mobile devices consumers used during the first 6 weeks of 2012, i.e. the Valentine's Day shopping season.
Apple took the lead with about 37% traffic using the iPad and 33% using the iPhone. HTC was in second place with 7%, and Samsung devices managed to claim 4%.
This is the first time we're seeing Apple's iPad at the top of the mobile device list. This seems to make sense since many people are replacing their laptops with iPads and cloud computing.
comScore recently reported that the Google Android operating system is now more popular than the iPhone, but according to our tracking we see more jewelry website visits using an iPhone. In the US we see a 1,227% increase in the number of iPhone users tracked in 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.
These numbers are huge, and it represents the shift in technology usage over 12 months as more and more people use their smartphones to browse the web. Unfortunately there is another large shift occurring at the same time. Bounce rates are increasing.
We measured a 27% bounce rate 12 months ago by users of the iPhone. Currently the bounce rate is up to 65%. The average bounce rate for any jewelry website is 51% according to Google Analytics average date. So what's the difference this year vs. last?
Well, so far we didn't tell you that the measured data was from jewelry websites without mobile websites. In early 2011 the people using iPhone were among those we call "early adopters of technology," which means they will willingly deal with technology issues.
The measured results from early 2012 show a more mainstream audience, and it's our belief that they are less willing to deal with technology issues. In other words, they more quickly bounce away from non-mobile websites.
From this brief data we now see two primary areas of concern for jewelers:
1. Those without a mobile website need one. Now.
2. All websites need to be tested on both iPads and PCs. iPad users have the benefit of (almost) full web browser capability, so make sure all areas of your site work correctly for them.
Give your web developer a call today and get on board with mobile for 2012.
