NEW YORK ? A ForeSee executive at Mobile Marketer?s Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2014 said that despite the smartphone?s reputation to not drive conversions, consumers are satisfied from smaller-screen shopping experiences.

The ?Innovating Analytics: Gaining a Competitive Advantage in a Customer-Driven World? session presented some new data from ForeSee's FXI report. One of the more interesting findings is that smaller-sized smartphones do not necessarily translate to subpar mobile experiences.

?A lot of people really sort of thought that the iPad and the large mobile tablets were sort of the panacea of a mobile retail experience,? said Dave Scott, chief marketing officer at ForeSee, Ann Arbor, MI.

?And what we?re finding with the satisfaction scores is that that is not entirely the case,? he said.

?What that means is that people really are just as happy to buy off the phone as they are on the tablet, and because of the mobile lifestyle, people do that more often.?

Satisfying mobile users
ForeSee's FXI report looked at customer satisfaction across the top 100 mobile retailers? mobile sites and applications. More than 67,000 consumers were surveyed in the findings.

Amazon continues to lead when it comes to customer satisfaction this year. The online retailer has been No. 1 in customer satisfaction for the past nine years in ForeSee?s report.

According to Mr. Scott, Amazon?s drive towards customer service and dedicated app and sites makes it stand out.

Other top-performing retailers included Apple and QVC. Priceline ranked as the lowest-performing mobile retailer.

Other interesting findings from the study indicate that consumers are equally satisfied and happy shopping from either a mobile app or a site.

Satisfied users
As consumers turn to their smartphones and tablets to shop more, customer satisfaction is increasingly becoming more important.

This is driven by two factors: word-of-mouth marketing and consumers increasingly becoming more tech-savvy.

This is partly chalked up to the increase in multi-platform shoppers. According to ForeSee?s report, 95 percent of consumers who go to a mobile site also interact with another channel.

When it comes to what consumers are looking for, pricing information was one of the top activities that shoppers use on mobile.

Additionally, 33 percent look up product specifications from their smartphones and tablets. The same percentage of consumers wanted to compare products on their mobile devices.

Forty-eight percent of app users prefer to research.

Not surprisingly, not many consumers are interested in shopping directly from mobile.

Additionally, shoppers today are more multi-channel than ever before.

Ninety-five percent of shoppers surveyed identified themselves as cross-channel shoppers. Only 5 percent were mobile-only shoppers.

Focusing on improving customer service and satisfaction is one way that retailers can increase conversions.

According to ForeSee?s findings, 76 percent of satisfied shoppers are more likely to purchase in-channel, and 59 percent are more likely to make future purchases.

?The customer experience right now rules if you think about it,? Mr. Scott said.

?Today the customer actually has more decisions than ever, and if you?re not listening to the customer experience, you?re in the dark,? he said.

Final Take
Dave Scott is chief marketing officer at ForeSee, Ann Arbor, MI