Mobile Website Visitors Encounter Problems, Says Gomez

By Editor Wireless and Mobile News on October 19, 2009 11:49 AM

Gomez examined consumers' mobile Web experiences and expectations, in a study conducted by Equation Research on behalf of Gomez. The survey of 1001 mobile Web users found that:

Two out of three have encountered problems when accessing websites on their mobile phones in the last 12 months.
Slow load times were their number one issue, experienced by almost 75 percent of them.
More than half reported that the website content was either too large or small for the size of their mobile phone's screen.

The survey revealed how unsatisfactory mobile web experiences can negatively shape a consumer's opinion of an organization. It also discovered that mobile web users do not have much patience for retrying a Web site that is slow or not functioning. In the survey:

85 percent of consumers said they are only willing to retry a mobile Web site two times or less if it does not work initially.
More than half are unlikely to return to a Web site that they had trouble accessing from their phone.
40 percent said they'd likely visit a competitor's mobile Web site instead.

Mobile users have high expectations for mobile Web performance. Survey respondents overwhelmingly stated that if performance were better, they would access the mobile Web far more often. More than 80 percent of them claimed they would access Web sites more often from their phone if the experience was as fast and reliable as it is on a PC. Ultimately, the majority stated they expect Web sites to load as quickly, almost as quickly, or faster on their mobile phone, compared to their home or work computer. And almost three quarters expect to be able complete simple transactions like checking their bank balance in a minute or less, or they will abandon the site.

"While mobile users may accept sites that are 'light' on richness and small in form factor, they are evidently not willing to sacrifice performance," said Matt Poepsel, Gomez's VP of Performance Strategies. "The mobile Web is all about convenience - the Web in your pocket -and slow mobile pages contradict that benefit. To avoid ongoing dissatisfaction and to capitalize on the mobile opportunity, businesses need to place mobile performance management squarely at the top of their to-do lists."

Gomez retained Equation Research to conduct this survey. Interviews of 1001 mobile Web users were conducted between September 16-21, 2009. To download and read the full survey findings, please go to http://www.gomez.com/wp-content/downloads/gomez_mobile_web_experience_survey.pdf