Making Mobile Shopping More Convenient

In yesterday’s post, we looked at research that showed what tablet shoppers thought would make their experience better. Today, we’re going to look at overall mobile shopping and the factors that could make it more convenient for consumers.  Convenience is one of the factors driving the rapid growth in mobile.  The convenience of having the device around at all times, the convenience of nearly instantaneous web access and the convenience of mobile sites.  New research is available that looks at what consumers think would make
shopping via mobile more convenient.  This can help your business build a
better mcommerce strategy.

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he most important thing to mobile shoppers was the finding the products they want to buy – nearly one in four mobile shoppers answered that way

• One in six mobile shoppers wanted the checkout process to be easier, 16% said that it should be easy to check out

• Just over 10% were looking for easier access to their billing information and 8% wanted improved sharing tools

What Does This Mean To You?

As we’ve seen in prior posts, mobile shopping is sharply on the rise.  As consumers are becoming more mobile-ly enabled, they expect more from your mobile offerings. If your site is not convenient to use and navigate, consumers will look to other competitive sites. One of the things to measure is your rate of shopping cart abandonment.  This will help you gauge your checkout process.  The ability to share was lower on the list of mobile “wants” but can be important in the future.  Social is rapidly becoming a mobile-first function.  Sharing is one of the chief functions of social shopping.  The more consumers share your products, the more exposure your brand and products receive. For more information on how to increase the results from your mcommerce tactics, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; SiteWorx

Creating a Better Tablet Shopping Experience

Earlier this week, we should information on how smart phone shoppers and tablet shoppers differed in their holiday purchasing activities.  Tablet shoppers were more likely than smart phone shoppers to make purchases.  New research has come out that shows what features make tablet shopping more convenient.

• Ease of finding products was the top reason at 22%

• 13% of users said that being able to get reviews and rating were important

• Another 13% wanted an easy checkout system

• 8% indicated that they required access to billing information through the tablet

• 6% thought that social activities such as sharing projects with friends was something wanted

What Does This Mean To You?

Tablet shoppers are important. Not only are they a great demographic,
their numbers are rapidly increasing.   If consumers move away from apps
as a tablet function, you will want to incorporate these attributes
into your WAP functionality.  It’s always a good idea to watch how your
customers are using technology and listen to how you think your
offerings could be improved.  Businesses who respond to customer wants
usually perform better.  Some things they want may not be financially
feasible or technologically possible today, but we never know what the
future may bring as the speed of innovation continues increase. For more information on creating revenue from tablet shoppers, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; SiteWorx

Mobile Web vs. Apps Over The Holidays

Apps are one of the things that makes mobile devices special.  They can also be fairly expensive for a small business to develop.  Over the holidays, a record number of apps were downloaded but evidence suggests that consumers are not too keen on single store apps for shopping.  A new report looks into app vs. WAP use and what might make a shopper visit a single store app.

• 66% of smart phone users preferred to use a retail store’s mobile site vs. downloading their app

• When asked what would encourage them to download an app, nearly 20% said a special offer

•  11% said that the app would need to be faster than the store’s mobile site

• One in 10 said that their needed to be loyalty benefits to using the app

• Five percent said that the checkout process must be streamlined

• Over half of smart phone shoppers surveyed said that there were no benefits that would encourage them to download a single retailer app

What Does This Mean To You?

For a single store, their mobile site is much more valuable to shoppers than their custom app.
Developing an app can be cost and resource intensive, if your business is still interested in an app – remember what consumers want. They want discounts and speed.  They also want conveniences such as stored information to make checking out easier.  The other option is to investigate aggregator shopping apps or advertising positions on other apps.  This gives you the benefit of added traffic without the expense of developing an app.  One of the things you need to do is promote the fact you are involved in these apps.  For more information on forging winning mobile strategies, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; SiteWorx

How Consumers Used Mobile Devices Over The Holidays

From prior posts, we’ve chronicled information on much mobile shopping activity was done this past holiday season. Today, we’ll look at what types of shopping activity were done via smart phone and tablet.  This information can help you fine tune your mobile strategies for the future.

• One-third of smart phone owners used their device to look up store hours, directions and locations. 20% of tablet owners looked for the same information

• 19% of smart phone owners and 18% of tablet owners read product reviews on their devices respectively

• Tablet owners were 28% more likely than smart phone owners to compare prices on their devices

• The biggest difference was in making a purchase.  13% of smart phone owners bought something over the holidays on their device.  19% of tablet owners completed a sale on their device

What Does This Mean To You?

While smart phones and tablets are both mobile devices, how consumers use them is different.  Smart phones are used much more often in-store or in transit than tablets.  This makes sense – it’s bad enough to see people drive and use their smart phone, image them trying to type on a tablet and drive.  Also, while many tablets are 3G & 4G enabled, many more are run from wifi.
Research suggests that consumers use tablet more to complete the sale.  Users are checking prices and buying items more often on tablets.  One of the big buzz words you’ll be hearing more about this year is device agnostic.  It basically means that that users will have the same digital experience on whatever device they connect with.  Layouts will automatically scale to the screen size of the device that are accessing on no matter if it’s a smart phone, tablet or phablet (new buzzword alert. A phablet is described as a smaller sized tablet – usually with a 5 inch screen).  These design improvements can help you better display your merchandise to mobile users.  For more information on how your mobile site can contribute more to your bottom line, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: Mobile Commerce Daily; SiteWorx

Frequency of Mobile Social Activity

Last week, we learned that social activity is becoming mobilized.  While nearly all social networkers may access sites from a desktop, the frequency of access on mobile devices is astounding.  Knowing how often social media users visit networks on their mobile devices can definitely help shape winning social tactics.

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Six in 10 smart phone owners access social sites from mobile devices on a daily basis

• That is up 11% from last year

• 14% access on a weekly basis and 7% visit monthly

• 16% of smart phone owners have never accessed a social site from their device

• Social networkers who own have visited a site from a mobile device tend to be younger, have higher household incomes, are more likely to work in White-Collar occupations and have children in their household

What Does This Mean To You?

Mobile social networkers are very active in accessing social presences.  Their demographics also suggest they make a great target audience for many different types of businesses.  How do you get them to become more socially engaged with your business?

• Incorporate QR codes into your point of sale and other marketing material – Link that QR code to your social presence and provide an instant discount for “liking”, following or checking in

• Deliver mobile coupons to your followers

• Create presences on native mobile social sites – Develop Twitter feeds, promote Instagram tags & generate badges for FourSquare

• Engage users – This is important, don’t forget the social part of social media.  When someone checks in, tweets or updates their state status indicating they are at your location – Recognize them and thank them for their patronage

Mobile & social are not things that are going away. Everyday more people are adopting mobile and engaging social networks. Adopting strategies and creating tactics to optimize and monetize these activities is a wise investment for the future.  For more information on making more revenue with mobile and social functions, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; Google; Ipsos; The 2012 Scarborough Report, Release 1

Social Media Moves Toward Mobile First

Social media has evolved from a small niche platform to a mainstream
force that businesses need to understand to be successful.  The way
people access social media is also evolving.  It started as a desktop
activity but the rise of mobile adoption has changed that completely.
More social presences are being designed as native mobile functions and
existing social sites are rapidly moving toward being more of a mobile
entity.  A new report is out that shows how and where social networkers
are accessing these sites.

Over 90% of social users have accessed a network on lap top or desktop devices, but that number has fallen year over year.

• In 2012, 46% of social networkers visited a site on their mobile phone

• Visitation via mobile phone rose 24% year over year

• The biggest jump came from tablet visitation.  Nearly one in six social media users accessed a site from a tablet in 2012

• From 2011 to 2012, the number of social networkers who visited a presence from their tablet increased by over 400%

What Does This Mean To You?

Mobile technology has brought social media from the home to into your business.  From earlier posts we know that consumers are using their devices in store.  Besides “showrooming”, this activity gives them the ability to make comments on your business through your company’s social presence as well as their own.  It can put negative information on your organization in full view of potential shoppers.  But, it also can give positive information, such as “likes” and encouraging comments the same publicity.  Including social reputation into your marketing strategy is something to strongly consider. Why?

• Consumers tend not to shop at stores with negative information on social presences

• Social media users are more likely to share both negative and positive experiences

• Shoppers are relying on social media as a customer service function

• Social reputations influence in-store and online shopping behaviors

Social reputation management can help you clean up negative, incorrect or misleading information about you on social presences.  It also should address how to deal with positive comments and how you are going to promote them.  Look at positive comments as virtual testimonials.  To encourage them, you need to reward them. For more information on how to improve your social reputation, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; Nielsen

Children Who Are Social Networked

The terms of service for most social networks state users must be 13 or older. But that doesn’t stop many kids from logging in.  One of the main reasons kids are on Social networks is for games.  New research has come out that looks into the social behaviors of kids from 6 to 12 years old.

• Over 40% of children from 6 to 12 years old have visited a social networking site

• 30% of kids in that age group have their own profile page

• Over 90% of those who children who socially network are on Facebook

• Close to 60% of children 6 to 12 use social networks to see what others have posted or to play games.

• 54% have “liked” something

• 43% of kids between 6 and 12 years old have posted an update and 39% have posted a picture

• Nearly 30% have checked email on a social network

• Fewer than one in five kids have shared a video and 16% shared a link

What Does This Mean To You?

Yesterday’s post talked about how children have access to mobile tools.
Digital engagement likely starts with their parents.  Over 60% of adults with children between 6 and 11 have used a social network in the past 30 days – that’s 22% more likely than the average adult.

Connected kids influence their parents purchasing decisions.  Getting your message to them can help you derive more revenue.  Social media can help you create brand awareness among tomorrow’s consumers.  For more information on how to increase your potential buying pool through digital tools,, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; NPD; Ipsos; The 2012 Scarborough Report 2012

Mobile-ly Enabled Kids

Odds are that if you have a kid, they know how to use a mobile device – often better than you do.
Tablets, smart phones and other enabled devices are quickly replacing
the TV as the new electronic babysitter.  One of the benefits of
children using mobile devices is that parents can specify the content
they can view through apps and parental controls.

• Nearly 40% of kids 4 to 5 years old use mobile devices. They 68% more likely to have used a mobile device than a lap top

• Almost half of 10 to 14 year olds have access to a mobile device

• In total, nearly 80% of teenagers have a mobile device

• 74% of parents who use mobile devices to keep their kids calm have downloaded apps specifically for them

• Over 80% of middle & high school children cited mobile devices as holiday gifts they wanted to receive

What Does This Mean To You?

The age of mobile adoption continues to get younger.  Whether kids are using these devices to watch video, play games, chat with friends or listen to music, children today are definitely mobile first. While your business may not be marketing to children, these are the shoppers of tomorrow and your business needs to prepare to meet their needs – before your competition does. Mobile functionality is expanding incrementally, you should pay attention to trends and the ways your customers are using their devices.  Ignoring mobile will not make it go away, but it could help move shoppers to other businesses who are making their lives more convenient with mobile options.  For more information on how to effectively and efficiently make your business mobile-ly successful, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; NPD; Ipsos; The 2012 Scarborough Report 2012; Qualcomm; Pew

Technology And Kids Today

It’s not just adults who have become digitally consumed and mobile-ly
dependent.   Kids are becoming tech engaged at earlier and earlier
ages.  New research has come out that looks at the devices kids have
access to and the affect it can have on your business.

• 80% of children 8 and under have a gaming device in their household

• Nearly 8 in 10 households with young children own a smart phone, that number has increased 46% in the past 2 years.

• The number of households with young children that have a tablet has gone from 8% to nearly half since 2010.  The households with children and ereaders have more than doubled

• 40% of children have access to a smart phone, tablet or internet enabled MP3 device

• In 2013, 45% of children under 12 will be online

What Does This Mean To You?

Tomorrow’s consumers are digitally engrained and will probably expect the companies they do business with to be as well.  Parents don’t view technology as a distraction; they see it as something that brings them together.  In fact, nearly half of families perceive technology as a connection point and use it as a unit.  While children may not be purchasing digital items, over half influence technology purchases. Households with children tend to have higher household incomes and are more likely to be in the market for:

• Appliances

• Furniture

• Electronics

• Vehicles

In tomorrow’s post, we’ll at mobile access use among children.  For more information on how to get more revenue though reaching families, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; Ipsos; Sesame Workshop; ORC

Smart Phone Penetration

Smart phones have entered a rare company of products.  They are becoming firmly entrenched in the “how did I ever live without” segment of things.  While I’m not old enough to have lived without indoor plumbing, running water or air conditioning – I do remember the when Santa brought my Commodore 64 and what a big deal it was.  Soon, kids won’t believe there was a time when you couldn’t pay for a soda simply by tapping your iPhone.

• If you think that everyone has a smart phone, you’re only half right.  50% of US adults own a smart phone, 93% own either a feature phone or smart phone

• The top group for smart phone ownership is adults 24-32 years old.  Over 70% of adults in this group own a smart phone.

• Nearly two-thirds of adults age 18-23 and 61% of adults 33-46 are smart phone owners

• There is a big drop off in smart phone penetration between adults age 33-46 and those 47-56. Adults in the older group are over 50% less likely to own a smart phone

• The main reason adults have not upgraded to a smart phone is cost. The biggest reason older adults have not moved into a smart phone is they do not see the need for them in their lives

What Does This Mean To You?

Have you ever left your smart phone at home?  What’s your first reaction?
Most likely, it’s turn around and go get it.
These devices are part of the consumer’s everyday lives and they will only grow in importance.
There are functions that your business can use to connect with customers and create engagement.
Mobile marketing allows you to reach potential shoppers no matter where they might be and you can geo-target your message to make it more relevant.
QR codes, permission based SMS, email and social media are either native mobile functions or activities that are rapidly becoming mobile first.  These can provide one-to-one messaging opportunities and can build shopper loyalty. The first step in monetizing your businesses mobile opportunities is creating a strategy.  For more information on building a mobile strategy that meets your companies needs and goals, please contact your Sun Sentinel representative or:
Julie Otto
Advertising Marketing Manager
954.425.1158
jotto@sunsentinel.com
www.sunsentinel.com/mediakit

Source: eMarketer; Forrester Research; Pew