How Amazon Drives Growth with Mobile Phone Number-Based Accounts
by Christian Kendall
Amazon likes to run the show. Its features include one-click buy, Amazon Pay, drone delivery and marketplace “Buy-Box.” Amazon now has another feature, a new way to sign in and create accounts based solely on a customer’s mobile phone number.
Amazon is determined to remove all friction from their user experience, and make shopping so easy that consumers are compelled to buy the impulse item of the day – and buy it on Amazon.
Logins are broken, and Amazon knows it. Login credentials are typically unsecure, easily forgotten and frustrating for users. That’s why Amazon gives mobile customers the option to use their phone number as the primary account identifier.
I first noticed this new development last month, when I upgraded to a new laptop and tried buying a protective laptop cover on Amazon. Since it was a new computer, I wasn’t persistently logged in with a cookie and was prompted to login again. During the login process, I noticed the new option to login with “phone for mobile accounts.” Here’s what the new Amazon login experience looks like:
Amazon New Account Set Up (Mobile):
Mobile Phone Login On Desktop
Why This Matters
Now that Amazon is using mobile phone numbers as a trusted confirmation of identity for accounts, you can bet we’ll begin seeing many more accounts based on mobile numbers. This makes sense, since login walls impact key statistics like user registration and conversion. In fact, 64% of users never register after downloading an app.
User sign-up processes today consist of these standard options:
- Username / Password: Typically, the customer’s email address and a password that meets specific strength requirements (e.g., 1 capital letter, 1 symbol, 2 numbers, at least 8 characters). This process also requires email verification, a painful step when users leave the retailer’s website, with no guarantee they will return to their new account.
- Single Sign-on: Options like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Github, etc., are appealing but have their downsides since users can easily forget which of the 17+ SSOs they used to create an account and often end up creating a duplicate account.
Since Amazon knows the various problems associated with logins, it’s trying to reduce the complexities of throw-away email accounts and “which single-sign-on did I use?” challenges, in order to simplify the consumer experience.
At Averon, we share the same vision to streamline secure sign-up and login processes. We’ve created a novel approach to account creation called “zero-tap sign-up and login.” Here’s what the Averon-powered experience looks like for new account creation:
The Averon zero-tap solution works both on apps and mobile websites. Through our deep mobile network signaling integration, we enable you to turn your customers’ phone numbers into their instant account authenticator. It’s both seamless and ultra-secure, plus user privacy is fully protected since no private information is ever stored.
What This Means for Online Retailers
It’s now possible to keep pace with Amazon for online retailers.
No more passwords or SMS codes for your customers
= a more convenient (and more secure) user experience
= better competition with Amazon, especially for impulse buys
The bottom line is that online retailers need to catch up with Amazon or risk losing more customers. Streamlining the account sign-up and purchase is key and can also provide fast ROI for retailers:
25%+ increase in conversion from app download to user registration
10%+ increase in conversion from landing on your site to completed transaction
To learn more, contact our Averon team for a consultation – contact@averon.com