Retailers need to deliver personalised shopping experiences via mobile
Mobile phone based shopping, researching and the general love of the mobile phone are on the rise with research revealing the need for personalised shopping experiences and mobile based insight strategies.
IBM announced the results of its 2012 Smarter Consumer Survey this week. The survey looks at the purchasing trends and shopping habits of 1,800 UK consumers and finds that mobile device shopping has more than doubled over the past year to 138 per cent.
The research shows that shoppers now demand a more personalised, convenient and budget-friendly shopping experience with the aid of mobile technology. In the UK 39 per cent want to use mobiles to receive personalised promotions, 42 per cent want to use mobiles to seek out lower prices, and 44 per cent to seek out promotions. Over half want to use mobiles to checkout, and 42 per cent to locate products in-store.
The survey also finds that consumers believe social media and online sources should be a fully integrated part of the shopping experience. Nearly 40 per cent of UK consumers rely on comparative shopping websites but 83 per cent said that they prefer to research online prior to browsing for a product during an in-store visit.
IBM believes that “retailers need to invest in delivering a personalised shopping experience across all types of contact methods in order to offer the right kinds of promotions, at the right time via the right delivery method.”
It’s not just shopping on mobile that has risen this year. Smartphone and tablet device use for customer research has more than doubled in a twelve month period, according to the latest device tracking from eDigitalResearch. In July 2011, just 4.2 per cent of eDigitalResearch surveys were completed on a mobile device, which has more than doubled to 9.2 per cent in June 2012.
A supporting consumer survey from eDigitalResearch also found that the majority (82 per cent) of those smartphone and tablet owners surveyed are likely to take part in surveys from their mobile in the future.
Apparently, mobile devices are expected to play a growing role in customer insight and eDigitalResearch suggest it is therefore imperative that brands and agencies work together to create a seamless and robust mobile optimised insight strategy.
And who better to get research from than those lucrative yet fickle 10-15 year olds, who named the mobile phone as their most important digital possession.
Marketing and technology company Amaze has revealed insights from the latest wave of its Amaze Generation study. The five-year research project looks at the impact of technology on the behaviour and attitudes of 10-15 year olds.
The mobile phone was a recurring theme throughout and it was identified as the most important digital possession by the majority of participants and something that they could not live without.
The value the group place on their mobile phones as an intrinsic part of their everyday lives could be seen by some of the participants’ quotes, including ‘I feel lost without it, and ‘you always need your phone’.
Is it bad that I share the views of 10 to 15 year olds in that I cannot live with my mobile phone? To redeem myself, I rely on my mobile to research products in-store and have taken part in more consumer surveys on my mobile than over the phone or online. It is definitely easier, quicker and looking at the research, it would yield more response.
