New online shopping service introduced by The Body Shop

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 - 11:40 by Paul Tissington

In order to capture more people who shop online from smartphones, The Body Shop has just introduced a revamped e-commerce solution that puts mobile success at the top of the agenda, according to Internet Retailing.

The health and beauty firm responded to the rapid rise in the number of people visiting its e-commerce site from portable devices by spending £10 million over the course of three years to capitalise on this trend. Sixty three per cent of site visits are now carried out from mobiles and tablets, with online sales up by almost a fifth over the past year.

Company spokesperson, Harriet Williams, said that the development of the platform was required not only to reflect the rise in mobile shopping, but also the international nature of The Body Shop’s customer base and the need to cater to people from many different parts of the world with one cohesive e-commerce solution.

Customers in the UK will already be able to use the site from mobiles and desktop devices, with 10 other countries also covered by the current rollout, which will expand to encompass 31 in total by the end of the year.

Modern consumers have a low tolerance for retail sites which do not give them the option to use a smartphone to carry out safe shopping online, since even if they do not wish to complete a purchase from their handset, the opportunity to find products and read reviews while on the move is essential.

Not all retailers have embraced mobile optimised websites, or developed smartphone apps to help their customers in this way. This puts them at a disadvantage when compared with The Body Shop and its contemporaries which have been quick to jump on the mobile bandwagon.