Australia - Consumers of mobile services have high expectations not always satisfied

[it wire] Mobile consumers have high expectations of their service providers and, it seems, not all of them are satisfied with what they are getting at the moment, with a significant number experiencing poor levels of service.

According to a survey of more than 500 Australian mobile users commissioned by Compuware, users’ expectations are not being met, with a majority of users experiencing “slow or unreliable mobile and application performance.” This is despite their expectation of quick, anytime transactions that work flawlessly every time.

Mirroring their counterparts in other countries, Australian users expectations for mobile website speed continue to increase, with most expecting websites to load just as fast on their mobiles as they do on their computers.

Rafi Katanasho, application performance management director at Compuware Australia and New Zealand, says user expectations for mobile continues to increase, but he maintains that companies in Australia are not meeting mobile users’ need for fast and reliable experiences, resulting in many of them failing to take advantage of the opportunities being provided by increased mobile access. Compuware

“Today’s mobile users demand exceptional web experiences and highly satisfying, convenient, on-the-go mobile site speeds regardless of their mode of access,” Katanasho said.

Other key findings of the Compuware survey include:

• Mobile users’ expectations for mobile website speed continue to increase. Sixty two percent of Australian mobile web users expect websites to load as quickly, almost as quickly or faster on their mobile phone compared to the computer they use at home. However, over a third of Australians said websites load more slowly on their phone. Globally, an average of 71% of global mobile web users expect websites to load as quickly, almost as quickly or faster on their mobile phone compared to the computer they use at home - up from 58% in 2009. However, almost half (46%) said websites load more slowly on their phone.

• Fifty percent of Australian web users say they expect a website to load on their mobile phone in three seconds or less and 62% are willing to wait five seconds or less for a single web page to load before leaving the site. Thirty-four percent are only willing to wait five seconds or less for an application to load before exiting. Globally, nearly 60% of web users say they expect a website to load on their mobile phone in three seconds or less, and 74% are only willing to wait five seconds or less for a single web page to load before leaving the site. Fifty percent are only willing to wait five seconds or less for an application to load before exiting.

• Fifty-four percent of Australian mobile web users had a problem accessing a website in the past year and 45% had a problem accessing an app on their phone. More than 82% of mobile web users would access websites more often from their phone if the experience was as fast and reliable. Fifty-seven percent of global mobile web users had a problem accessing a website in the past year, and 47% had a problem accessing an app on their phone. More than 80% of mobile web users would access websites more often from their phone if the experience was as fast and reliable.

• Mobile users do not have much patience for retrying a website or application that is not functioning initially; just under a third will go to a competitor’s site instead. The majority of Australian mobile web users are only willing to retry a website (77%) or application (79%) two times or less if it does not work initially. Globally, the majority of mobile web users are only willing to retry a website (78%) or application (80%) two times or less if it does not work initially.

• A bad experience on a mobile website leaves mobile web users much less likely to return to, or recommend, a particular website. Forty-one per cent of Australians are unlikely to return to a website that they had trouble accessing from their phone and 64% are unlikely to recommend the site. Nearly half of mobile web users are unlikely to return to a website that they had trouble accessing from their phone, and 57% are unlikely to recommend the site.

Mobile services not up to scratch for consumers