Incognia Announces Retail Mobile App Study [Checkout Friction Index]

Palo Alto, CA -- April 13, 2021--Mobile identity company Incognia today announced the publication of their second Mobile App Report, which unveils results from their recent Mobile App Friction Study on mCommerce Checkout. The study was conducted to provide retail companies with mobile apps insights on the state of friction during mCommerce checkout, which can help strengthen customer satisfaction and retention. Mobile apps from major retailers and specialty retailers were reviewed, and included Target, Walmart, Costco, BestBuy, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Wayfair, JOANN, and Hobby Lobby.

The transformation of buying behavior is one of the biggest changes to come out of the global pandemic, with mCommerce continuing to gain ground. The latest Incognia Mobile App Friction Report analyzes the purchasing experience of twelve of the most popular mCommerce apps by ranking the checkout friction and reviewing the types of mobile purchase options supported by the app, including pickup, delivery and payment options. 

To adjust to the dramatic shift in buyer behavior, retailers have quickly responded by enhancing their mobile apps, offering consumers an expanded choice of payment and purchase options. Two out of  three retail mobile apps studied in the Mobile App Friction Report now offer BOPIS options to accommodate changes in consumer behavior. In addition, the study showed strong adoption of PayPal as an in-app payment option, with over 80% of the retail apps reviewed in the study supporting PayPal, compared to Apple Pay which is supported by 20% of the apps reviewed in the study.

For each app, the Mobile App Report examines and quantifies factors that contribute to friction during the mCommerce checkout experience. Results from the Mobile App Checkout Friction Study indicate that Lowe’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Home Depot had the lowest Checkout Friction Index for pickup purchases. Sephora, Lowe’s and Home Depot had the lowest Checkout Friction Index scores for delivery purchases. 

“The pandemic caused an influx of consumers to shop on their mobile phones, and top retailers responded by investing in their mCommerce apps. For retailers, the purchasing experience is critical to the customer experience,” said André Ferraz, founder and CEO of Incognia. “The level of checkout friction can easily make or break customer satisfaction and retention, and our latest Mobile App Report clearly outlines which areas of the mCommerce experience adds friction for the users.”

The data gathered during the analysis of each app was used to create the Incognia Checkout Friction Index. The lower the Index, the better the purchasing experience. The Incognia Checkout Friction Index accounts for the following factors:

• Application Time: The time required to complete a purchase via the mobile app, including the time from the first registration screen to the last, where the purchase is submitted and completed. The checkout time of each app is shown as the average of the checkout time recorded on both operating systems, Android and iOS. 
• Screens: The number of screens that are presented during the purchasing process was recorded for each app, including all the screens from the beginning until payment submission.
• Clicks: The number of clicks required to complete a purchase were counted. If any screen required multiple clicks, all were included in the total count.
• Fields: All fields and checkboxes required as part of the purchase process were counted and included in the count of required fields.
• Payment Options: The specific payment options offered to the user as part of the purchasing experience were recorded.
• Purchase Options: The choice of purchase options including pick up in-store or curbside, and same-day and extended delivery options were recorded.

Key data points from the report include:

• Lowest mCommerce Checkout Friction (pickup purchase): Lowe’s, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Home Depot
• Lowest mCommerce Checkout Friction (delivery purchase): Sephora, Lowe’s and Home Depot

• 4 minutes: Average time to complete the checkout process for pickup orders. JOANN had the shortest purchase time at 2:41 minutes.

• 3.5 minutes: Average time to complete the checkout process for delivery orders. Hobby Lobby had the shortest purchase time at 2:36 minutes.

• 12 fields: Average number of fields required for pickup and delivery orders. Lowe’s and Sephora tied for the fewest number of required fields at 3 total.

• 25 clicks: Average number of clicks required for pickup orders. Lowe’s required the least amount of clicks to checkout at 16 total.
• 22 clicks: Average number of clicks required for delivery orders. Sephora had the least amount of clicks to checkout at 8 total.

Download the Incognia Mobile App Friction Report: Retail here: https://www.incognia.com/resources/retail-checkout-friction-index  

About Incognia

Incognia is a location identity company that enables advanced mobile fraud prevention for banks, fintech and mCommerce companies. Using location behavioral biometrics Incognia offers frictionless identity verification and authentication. Incognia’s location technology uses network signals and on-device sensors to deliver highly precise location information. By building an anonymous location behavioral pattern, unique for each user, Incognia creates a private digital identity for account security.

Incognia is privately held and headquartered in Palo Alto, California with teams in New York and Brazil.

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Media Contact

Madeline Kalicka, Karbo Communications for Incognia

(240) 427-8961

incognia@karbocom.com