COSTA MESA, CA: A growing number of shopping categories are likely to see more than half their website visits coming from mobile devices this holiday season according to Experian Marketing Services.

Based on past holiday trends, the cross-channel marketer and insights provider estimated that baby products, which currently gets 55% of its visits from mobile, would be getting 77% from mobile by December 26th.

Sharp increases over the next two months were also anticipated for the health & beauty category (from 54% to 75%), for intimate apparel & accessories (from 55% to 70%) and apparel & accessories (from 49% to 64%).

Ticketing, toys & hobbies, department stores and wholesale & relationship sales were slated to hit or exceed the 50% mark.

Experian advised marketers to be sure their search campaigns were optimised for mobile. "Providing quick links in paid search ads to phone numbers, directions, store hours, etc. can mean the difference between getting a shopper through the door and letting them drive right by," it said.

Separately, a new survey from LoyaltyOne, the loyalty services provider, stressed the importance of getting the online retail experience right, as it found that mistakes made with online shoppers on Cyber Monday could hit in-store sales over the rest of the holiday season.

In a nationwide poll of 1,019 American consumers, nearly half (47%) of Cyber Monday shoppers indicated they would be reluctant to make a subsequent in-store holiday season purchase from a retailer with whom they had an unhappy online experience that day.

Interestingly, the reverse was not as likely, as just over one third (36%) suggested that a poor in-store experience might have an impact on their online shopping intentions with the same retailer.

"On-line shoppers react to different problems than those who shop in-store," said Paula Courtney, president of Verde Group, a customer experience research consultancy that worked with LoyaltyOne.

"The value of an online shopper to a retailer is more negatively impacted by problems associated with the lack of free shipping, or issues with returns," she explained.

"Online shopper value also is damaged when rewards cards or coupons cannot be used online, when sales or specials are only available in the store, and when shoppers cannot use their preferred credit card or payment type online."

Data sourced from LoyaltyOne, Experian Marketing Services; additional content by Warc staff