No purchase from Mobile Devices

sportva

I posted this under Support but now that I have confirmation it is not supported, thought I should post under the Pro banner to make sure everyone is aware of the issue.

Users can only purchase photos from a desktop. Users on mobile and tablet devices do not see the cart and cannot purchase photos. Additionally, no matter what gallery appearance settings you apply, mobile users will see a collage of the gallery and will see the option to view slideshow. I am also not see any share options available when viewing from a mobile device. Support Heros have confirmed that they do not currently offer a way for photos to be purchased from mobile devices.

Not sure about everyone else, but I know that most of my potential customers use their mobile device. If they don't see option to purchase there, they won't look on their desktop for an option to purchase either.

Andy

Have you tried from an iPad or other Tablet?

smurfy

sportva wrote: »

I posted this under Support but now that I have confirmation it is not supported, thought I should post under the Pro banner to make sure everyone is aware of the issue.

Users can only purchase photos from a desktop. Users on mobile and tablet devices do not see the cart and cannot purchase photos. Additionally, no matter what gallery appearance settings you apply, mobile users will see a collage of the gallery and will see the option to view slideshow. I am also not see any share options available when viewing from a mobile device. Support Heros have confirmed that they do not currently offer a way for photos to be purchased from mobile devices.

Not sure about everyone else, but I know that most of my potential customers use their mobile device. If they don't see option to purchase there, they won't look on their desktop for an option to purchase either.

You could turn off the mobile viewing option. I can see the "buy" button on my ( legacy) site on the ipad when in "visitor view". I turned off the mobile site SM defaults to years ago.

But it is very difficult to navigate the shopping cart from mobile, and I've had several clients tell me that they don't have a desktop or laptop when they complained about it. So yes, this issue does drastically hurt our bottom line, and its really surprising that this issue has been ignored for so long.

Kikoprice

Where do we turn off mobile viewing in the new site?

denisegoldberg

Kikoprice wrote: »

Where do we turn off mobile viewing in the new site?

I don't believe you can. In Legacy smug you could turn off the mobile viewing mode which meant that your viewers would see your "regular" site. There is no mobile viewing mode in the new smug - your normal smug site is shown on all devices.

--- Denise

chrismoore

Even in desktop/legacy mode, scrolling up and down the print options on a phone/tablet is very difficult. Yet another reason I've moved my commerce elsewhere until they get this fixed. For example, I have a huge print display at an international airport coming up. The likelihood is if someone sees a print they will want to buy, they will load my site on their phone/tablet and purchase the print. If that is not possible, the odds they will get home and remember to do it are very low.

DanielLevyPhotography

I have run into this as well - with mobile devices making up 40% of my site visits - this is a VERY big deal to me.

Is there any sign of this being addressed?

Thanks,
Daniel Levy

leightonoc

Not being able to order prints and merch from the mobile version is a big deal!

1musashi

No mobile ordering???
This is a huge deal!.. so many of my customers view from mobile. I will have to re-evaluate my website strategy. I really love the new smugmug... but this is kind of a deal breaker. it seems so basic in this day and age.

zerolightphoto

Has anyone heard from smugmug if or when they are going to allow customers to buy from a mobile device?

fadeoutfoto

Just found this thread. And it makes me very unhappy. How could they not have thought of this before rolling this out?

rkw624

zerolightphoto wrote: »

Has anyone heard from smugmug if or when they are going to allow customers to buy from a mobile device?

Most of us would advise to not hold your breath on that question.

mbonocore

This is a current feature request and we are aware if your desire for it. Unfortunately, I do not have an update at this time. I sincerely apologize.

denisegoldberg

mbonocore wrote: »

This is a current feature request and we are aware if your desire for it. Unfortunately, I do not have an update at this time. I sincerely apologize.

If you're interested it is currently possible to purchase from Windows phones. (And yes, I'm well aware that more people are using iphones and android devices...)

I'd be surprised if phones were a big purchase media - I'd want to see a larger image before buying something!

--- Denise

Dreadnote

denisegoldberg wrote: »

If you're interested it is currently possible to purchase from Windows phones. (And yes, I'm well aware that more people are using iphones and android devices...)

I'd be surprised if phones were a big purchase media - I'd want to see a larger image before buying something!

--- Denise

Apparently your not selling to the pre-teen, teen and soccer mom crowd at sporting events or schools whose primary interest is in digital downloads that they can share on their phones and on social media and for whom instant gratification is the only gratification.

nine22

I wanted to add that I've had multiple individuals complain about this. Surprisingly there are people out there that only use phones and tablets and no longer a computer.

gryhnd

I've only just discovered that the new Smug doesn't allow mobile purchasing...because I am losing MANY MANY sales! And several customers coming to me asking how to buy. When I walk through it with them, it turns out they are on a mobile device.

That never happened previously. For example, moms with kids on sports teams don't care much about getting a quality view pre-purchase. They just want to find their kid, order a few prints or a digital download, and be on their way. Teens I shoot at the high schools: same thing. They LIVE on their phones.

I am encountering the same thing with a recent road race I shot. I've been trying to figure out why sales were so low until it turned out the few that did contact me were all on mobile devices.

This is a really bad thing and needs to be addressed now, not later.

cfrey6

Ridiculous!!!
This is a Feature Request??? WTH??? This is like saying upgrading to Windows 7 is a feature request. If you do not address this issue soon, then this will absolutely be a deal breaker and I will walk away from Smugmug. I pay $300 for what? Your big roll out is a cosmetic makeover, while the commerce side of things was almost totally ignored.

I have literally received at least 25 emails from potential customers indicating they are having trouble ordering prints and are even questioning if they are for sale. This is within the last month alone!!! Clearly, this is not a well-oiled machine and I am getting tired of answering these emails.

The onus is on you Smugmug! Not on people who pay $300 to create your ideas.

Mesenko

Same here, question after question about pricing and how to buy. All mobile. Maybe SM isn't aren't aware of the significance. Google analytics shows over 40% of my traffic as mobile. I would gladly give SM access to my analytics if there's any doubt...

gryhnd

After the holidays I'll begin evaluating other options. I've lost too much money because of this nonsense.

rkw624

gryhnd wrote: »

After the holidays I'll begin evaluating other options. I've lost too much money because of this nonsense.

I'll second that. I just had a parent call me about buying soccer photos and was very disappointed that she could not buy from her mobile device. if you ask me you guys should have left SmugMug the way it was and dumped all the money into cart improvements. Most of my site visits are mobile anymore. Don't you see this with you customers SmugMug?

Dreadnote

cfrey6 wrote: »

This is a Feature Request??? WTH??? This is like saying upgrading to Windows 7 is a feature request. If you do not address this issue soon, then this will absolutely be a deal breaker and I will walk away from Smugmug. I pay $300 for what? Your big roll out is a cosmetic makeover, while the commerce side of things was almost totally ignored.

I have literally received at least 25 emails from potential customers indicating they are having trouble ordering prints and are even questioning if they are for sale. This is within the last month alone!!! Clearly, this is not a well-oiled machine and I am getting tired of answering these emails.

The onus is on you Smugmug! Not on people who pay $300 to create your ideas.

Mesenko wrote: »

Same here, question after question about pricing and how to buy. All mobile. Maybe SM isn't aren't aware of the significance. Google analytics shows over 40% of my traffic as mobile. I would gladly give SM access to my analytics if there's any doubt...

gryhnd wrote: »

After the holidays I'll begin evaluating other options. I've lost too much money because of this nonsense.

rkw624 wrote: »

I'll second that. I just had a parent call me about buying soccer photos and was very disappointed that she could not buy from her mobile device. if you ask me you guys should have left SmugMug the way it was and dumped all the money into cart improvements. Most of my site visits are mobile anymore. Don't you see this with you customers SmugMug?

There is always this option:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=240753&highlight=chrome+paypal

Here is how I implemented it. It took care of 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak - Self Fulfillment and Mobile Ordering. And the best part, I got to drop the nonsense $150 portfolio plan for a $60 power account. It works great for me. Allows me to customize prices and sizes for individual prints if I want to, etc., and you can still have Bay Photo or whoever you use fill the orders for the same price or even a bit less depending. You certainly save the 15% that SmugMug bleeds you for. You just have to send in the order yourself. Well worth it in my opinion. Some of these companies even have Lightroom plugins or so I'm told.

http://www.jasonhowardking.com

Here is the extension website:

http://www.sherlockphotography.org/Customisations

Hope that helps.



On a side note, the maker of the plugin did this in a couple of weeks and even rebuilt it after SmugMug squashed his first implementation. Anyway, the idea that this on some mysterious list of feature requests that no one is willing to produce... well I'll let you form your own opinions.

gryhnd

Workarounds are nice, but I am paying Smugmug to do the work for me, which they are not.

I appreciate your links though dread.

rkw624

Intersting article and also on the news yesterday. Headline: "Big Cyber Monday sales jump shows how the world is going mobile" IBM also chimed in with some interesting statistics: "Customers generally prefer to use smartphones when browsing for things to buy but prefer to use tablets when it comes time to make the actual purchase." Link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/lmxhqux

Would anyone from SmugMug like to comment? Thanks!

gryhnd

rkw624 wrote: »

Intersting article and also on the news yesterday. Headline: "Big Cyber Monday sales jump shows how the world is going mobile" IBM also chimed in with some interesting statistics: "Customers generally prefer to use smartphones when browsing for things to buy but prefer to use tablets when it comes time to make the actual purchase." Link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/lmxhqux

Would anyone from SmugMug like to comment? Thanks!

Thank you. Meant to post virtually the same link this morning but ran out of time...because I was chasing orders people had been trying to place via mobile. Imagine that.

rkw624

News from today: "PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwired - Dec 4, 2013) - iovation, stopping Internet fraud and identifying good online customers by leveraging the world's largest device reputation database, today announced that it found 30 percent of all online retail purchases from Black Friday to Cyber Monday in 2013 -- November 29 to December 2 -- were conducted from a mobile device. This compares to 12 percent of all online retail purchases being conducted from a mobile device from Black Friday to Cyber Monday 2012 -- November 23 to 26 -- representing a 150 percent increase."
Link to the news story - http://finance.yahoo.com/news/iovation-finds-150-percent-increase-162223486.html

Just sayin'!

AdamNP

I can't believe this is even a feature request. It should be on the active bugs list. This is 2013, and mobile devices represent an enormous amount of traffic, as seen from the last few posts here.

Again, this is NOT a feature request. This is a core function of the site that is broken.

rkw624

rkw624 wrote: »

Intersting article and also on the news yesterday. Headline: "Big Cyber Monday sales jump shows how the world is going mobile" IBM also chimed in with some interesting statistics: "Customers generally prefer to use smartphones when browsing for things to buy but prefer to use tablets when it comes time to make the actual purchase." Link to the article: http://tinyurl.com/lmxhqux

Would anyone from SmugMug like to comment? Thanks!

If it wasn't for winter I would be hearing nothing but crickets!

gryhnd

rkw624 wrote: »

If it wasn't for winter I would be hearing nothing but crickets!

rkw624

gryhnd wrote: »

!!!

Now on the serious side. This is a question that has been asked that it would be nice if SmugMug would answer. Even something like this if I can make a suggestion or two.

1. We hear ya and are working on implementing this ASAP becuse we care about our customers.

Or


2. Quit whinin' and go somewhere else.

Mesenko

My workaround was to put this at the top of my page:
DESKTOP COMPUTER REQUIRED TO ORDER