Amazon beats Apple in mobile customer satisfaction

Amazon and Apple have the most satisfying experiences, but Netflix and eBay have the most app usage

There is so much potential for mobile commerce, but sometimes, making a purchase from your mobile phone can be like shaving your legs without soap: it’s possible, but it’s no picnic.  There are a few companies that have gotten it right—and it’s obviously much easier to shop on mobile sites and apps with one-click purchase settings (or PayPal), so you don’t have to enter your credit card number from tiny little touchscreen buttons every time you try to buy something, but m-commerce is still a work in progress.

In a survey of mobile customer satisfaction, Amazon comes out on top as the predictable king of commerce.  In a scale of 1-100, Amazon’s mobile shopping experience scored the highest with 84, followed by Avon of all companies, with a score of 83, and Apple with a score of 82. 

ForeSee conducted a similar survey earlier this year, but the findings in that survey showed Apple in the lead, with a score of 85 to Amazon's 84.

Overall customer satisfaction with the mobile shopping experience of 20 of the largest online retailers averaged out at 79, survey respondents said that they still prefer the Web shopping experience.

A big part of the problem with mobile shopping is that while the Web experience is pretty uniform across most major retailers’ sites, mobile apps and browsers have to adapt to different screen sizes, operating systems, hardware specifications, and loading speeds.  So mobile shopping can be hit or miss compared with purchasing from a website.

Some of the key findings from the survey reveal that mobile app shoppers were more satisfied than mobile Web shoppers (80 v. 79), and customers already familiar with a brand are more satisfied than those who were driven to a company’s mobile site by a search engine or a price comparison site.

"Consumer expectations of the mobile experience are set by their experience on PCs and laptops. But where there are limitations on screen size and configuration, there are advantages to the touchscreen interface first popularized by Apple's iPhone and iPad," said Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee, in a statement.

Building a solid mobile app/site leads to more satisfied customers, and satisfied customers are 69% more likely than dissatisfied ones to make a purchase from their mobile device, 72% more likely to recommend the retailer, and 58% more likely to visit the mobile site or app again.

While Amazon, Avon, and Apple topped the list when it came to mobile customer satisfaction, the highest app usage among the companies ForeSee measured were Netflix (59%), eBay (53%), Groupon (52%), and Walgreens (48%).

Amazon recently revamped its mobile app to make it easier to browse.  Previously, you could only search for a specific item to make a purchase, rather than browse categories. 

Additionally, last month, Groupon updated its iPhone and Android app to add a new carousel scrolling feature to replace the former tabbed nagivation.  It also added a new “Nearby” category, where users can find Now! deals.

Image source: komonews.com