Considerations When Designing mCommerce Experiences for Millennials

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mCommerce is shifting in a direction to cater towards those that are digital native (Millennials), not digital immigrant (the rest of us). Personalization and customization is a requirement for Millennials, yet many Fortune 1000 companies are challenged with barriers on infrastructure and data governance that don't allow for CX/UX professionals to provide an engaging experience for Millennials. This generation is demanding an omni-channel experience at a higher velocity, and as a result, many companies are being challenged with shifting priorities.

In September 2015, Key Lime Interactive hosted a webinar on the topic of Millennials & mCommerce. The panel included our CEO, Ania Rodriguez, and UX experts, Catherine Brunson and Stephanie Slobodian. The panel talked on:

Personalization vs. Customization
Wearables
Digital Storytelling
Location-based deals / Geo-location / Beacons / NFC
New “buy button” trend (on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and soon, Google)

Following this popular and well-received webinar, we wanted to use the insights of our panel and take this topic a little further. When considering Millennials and the mCommerce experience, how do you design for this technology-focused generation?

Here are the top 10 Considerations when Designing mCommerce Experiences for Millennials:

Do your homework and discover the end-to-end experience of Millennials currently interacting with your brand.
Do three (3) journey maps. First, a journey map to document what is actually happening. Second, another journey map to document what your stakeholders think or believe is happening. Then, do a third journey map of how you want them to engage with your brand based on overlapping the three maps for "AHA" and decision points that influence Millennial interaction.
Do not just design with end-use devices or user interfaces in mind as the deliverable goal. They are using up to four devices at once to achieve their goals.
Devices will change at a rapid clip, so design interfaces and adaptive relative content for modular fluid experiences that can be distributed to many devices at once, any time 24/7.
In retail, Millennials are actually closing the sales in the physical stores and enjoying that real world social experience in 3D. With that said, they are using digital to influence their decision to purchase, compare prices, inform their peers, ask for advice, etc. Design for immersion of information that is of value to them and let them buy in-store where they feel happiest to establish memory.
Build a comprehensive persona group and establish a Millennial customer advisory board to "inform" you of what you need to do next and what they expect from your brand. Reward them with gift cards or incentives for being on the board and put pilots in front of them for feedback and co-creation.
Millennials are "mobile" movers, so think about ways to connect them in Bluetooth smart ways. This includes at home, in the car, gaming circles and places they live, work and play. Tell your digital story wherever they are and wish to be as integrated.
Incentify them with creative loyalty rewards that pay down debts, student loans, support the environment or special interests.
Build great return policies for digital products that they buy online because this is one of the reasons they don't buy online.
Always think in terms of how Millennials will move to next level behavior in a life cycle and start bridging to the next group rising.