Consumer adoption of smart phone and tablet technology has grown at an incredible pace. Are businesses in New Zealand keeping pace by making sure their websites are optimised for mobile browsing? This study, completed in April 2014, shows that there is a big gap between consumer adoption, overseas competitors, and NZ business. We believe this is contributing to NZ retailers losing revenue as sales go offshore to better optimised overseas websites offering not just better prices and greater choice, but a better shopping experience too. This study suggests businesses in New Zealand that invest in responsive design for both web and email have the opportunity to improve a range of metrics including visitation, conversion and revenue - through all digital platforms not just mobile.

1. NZ INC/
2014
MOBILE
READINESS

2. HYPO-
THESIS/Consumer adoption of mobile has outstripped commerce.
But by how much?
We wanted to understand what the gap is and how much of
an opportunity exists for those businesses that get it.

3. • Survey the web presence of NZ brands to establish
the current state of mobile readiness.
• Pool available data to understand consumer mobile
adoption, behaviour and preferences.
• Review case studies available to benchmark the
potential ROI uplift from moving to a mobile
optimised platform.
APPROACH.

4. A brand offers a
mobile specific
website OR adapts
to the type of
screen used.
MOBILE READINESS DEFINED.

5. • 1,635 websites / 1,347 organisations
• Organisations listed in Agencies & Clients
Yearbook 2013 (tend to be larger NZ organisations
with a documented advertising, communications
or marketing need).
• A rule-based scoring methodology used to
remove any subjectivity from the individual site
assessments.
MOBILE READINESS SURVEY DESIGN.

6. ASSESSING MOBILE OPTIMISATION.

7. SURVEY-
RESULTS/

8. 72%
Fixed Width
15%
Mobile
13%
Responsive
NZ Mobile Readiness Survey
All Organisations - N=1347; All websites - N=1635
72%
Fixed Width
15%
Mobile
13%
Responsive
NZ Mobile Readiness Survey
All Organisations - N=1347; All websites - N=1635
JUST 28% OF NZ ORGANISATIONS HAVE A
MOBILE OR RESPONSIVE DESIGN WEBSITE.

9. NZ SIGNIFICANTLY LAGS INTERNATIONAL
MARKETS WHERE 0VER 50% ARE OPTIMISED.

10. TOILETRIES & COSMETICS SECTOR LEADS
THE WAY, WITH JUST OVER 50% OPTIMISED.
52%$
49%$
44%$
41%$
37%$
35%$
33%$
32%$
27%$
25%$
Toiletries / Cosmetics
Entertainment
Media
Automotive
Holidays, Travel & Transport
Beverages
Health & Pharma
Financial
Clothing, Accessories & Textiles
IT Comms Equipment & Services
Top 10 Sectors with Mobile Ready Websites

11. APART FROM TOILETRIES & COSMETICS, FOR
RESPONSIVE DESIGN MOST SECTORS LAG.

12. RETAIL IS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST SURPRISE
- JUST 18% OF SITES ARE OPTIMISED.

13. RESULTS
IN CONTEXT/

14. BUSINESS IN NZ IS BEHIND THE EIGHT-BALL. KIWIS ARE
SMART PHONE ARMED AND ACTIVELY USING THEM.

15. GROWTH IN TABLET UPTAKE WILL FURTHER
INTENSIFY THE NEED FOR IMPROVED OPTIMISATION.

16. OPTIMISING EMAIL FOR MOBILE PROVIDES A
COMPETITIVE EDGE CURRENTLY.

17. NZ BUSINESSES LOST OVER $1BN IN SALES TO
OVERSEAS WEBSITES LAST YEAR.
• Kiwis spent $2.8bn via the internet in the year to March
20141.
- This represents 6.1% of SNZ reported retail sales.
• 40% of sales went to international sites.
• 60% is accounted for by US (30%), UK (18%) and AU (15%)
• It is noted that the NZRA estimate online sales significantly
higher at c.$5bn2.
1BNZ Online Retail Sales Index, May 2014.
2The Online Retail Market in New Zealand: A 2013 Update.
1

18. EVIDENCE SUGGESTS NZ IS INCREASINGLY LOSING
OUT TO OFFSHORE STORES.
• Online spending by Kiwis at
offshore stores up 17% on
same time last year.
• The growth rate for online
spending at domestic stores
during the same period was
8%.
BNZ Online Retail Sales Report, May 2014.

19. AN IMPROVED UX THROUGH AN OPTIMISED
SITE WILL IMPROVE CONVENIENCE AND EASE.
• Main drivers to online
purchase are:
- Price
- Convenience
- Choice
- Ease
• An improved UX won’t solve
the price issue, but it will
help with convenience and
ease.

20. CASE STUDIES SUPPORT SIGNIFICANT UPLIFTS IN
MEASURES LIKE VISITATION, CONVERSION AND
REVENUE.

21. TESTING BY ‘MARKETING EXPERIMENTS’ ADDS
FURTHER SUPPORT TO THE CASE FOR RESPONSIVE
DESIGN.

22. INTERNATIONAL EVIDENCE ALSO SUPPORTS
INVESTMENT TO IMPROVE RETURNS.

23. SUMMARY OUTTAKES.
• With just 28% mobile readiness, NZ brands significantly lag both
international competitors and consumer demand.
• Retail is particularly poor with just 18% of sites optimised.
• With less than 15% of brands using mobile-friendly email, there is a
competitive opportunity for those that do invest in this space.
• NZ business missed out on over $1bn of online sales to overseas
competitors. Optimisation won’t solve price and choice issues, but
evidence suggests it would help retain some of that business.
• Those that do invest in mobile optimisation - particularly in
responsive design - stand to gain uplifts in visitation, conversion
and, for those involved in e-commerce, revenue.

24. THANK
YOU/

25. info@twenty.co.nz
http://twenty.co.nz/contact/