Author: Julie Campbell

Mobile marketing from Target will focus on Hispanic community in 2013

| December 30, 2012

Mobile Marketing TargetTarget has been greatly expanding its mcommerce offerings and is now focusing on specific demographics.

After a highly successful Christmas shopping season, Target is now taking its mobile marketing in more specific directions as it places its focus on the Hispanic community for its 2013 advertising and promotions.

It will be using certain cutting edge advertising techniques to reach these smartphone using consumers.

Even before the holiday shopping season has come to a close, with after Christmas sales still heavily sought, the retail giant has confirmed its intentions to work with LatinWorks in order to expand its U.S. Hispanic account, following an extensive review process that was performed over a three month period.

This mobile marketing effort is a strategic effort to improve appeal to the Hispanic community.

According to the Target senior group manager of public relations, Katie Boylan, “LatinWorks has been selected and will be our primary strategic partner for Hispanic marketing.” The retailer has been working to reach out to the Hispanic community for some time, and has been improving its position in that marketplace. However, it is hoping that by partnering with LatinWorks, it will be able to truly excel.

According to the latest data from the mobile industry, the Hispanic and Black populations are some of the communities in which smartphone penetration is at its greatest. This makes the Hispanic community one of the most important places for any mobile marketing campaign to place its focus.

A report from Portada that was released in June showed that the smartphone penetration in the United States had been approaching 50 percent at that time. It expressed that “it’s no surprise that the adoption of mobile shopping tools has been rapid.”

The Hispanic community has been a part of this adoption trend to a much greater extent than Caucasians in the country. In fact, 16 percent of Hispanic shoppers use their smartphones or tablets for making a purchase, when compared to only 10 percent of Caucasian consumers. Target has seen this as a very important mobile marketing opportunity, and it is one that they do not intend to miss.

Mcommerce has taken off in the land down under

| December 28, 2012

Mcommerce AustraliaAustralia has experienced tremendous growth of the use of smartphone and tablet devices for holiday purchases.

The latest mcommerce news from Australia is clearly showing that people living in the land down under enjoy holiday shopping with the help of their smartphones and tablets and have been using them more than ever before throughout this season.

Recent data released by PayPal Australia has revealed that nearly one quarter of Australians have used mobile to buy.

The statistics have indicated that 22 percent of Australians have used a smartphone, tablet, or other mobile device for mcommerce purposes throughout the Christmas shopping season. It has been estimated that by the end of 2012, there will have been $5.6 billion worth of purchases made in that country through the use of these devices.

When compared to the figures from previous years, mcommerce has exploded in Australia.

In 2010, the spending over mcommerce in Australia was recorded to be $155 million, which is tremendously lower than this year’s data. These figures are showing a phenomenal growth to the channel.

Among the additional trends that have been observed include the timing of the purchases. For example, over the Christmas period, nearly one in every three purchases that have been made over mcommerce have occurred between the hours of 8pm and midnight. Jeff Clementz, the managing director at PayPal Australia, has said that this indicates a new trend of using smartphones and tablets after the brick and mortar stores have closed.

He explained that “Our data demonstrates that for consumers, there is residual ‘shopping time’ continuing on from the ‘in-store’ experience after they leave the shopping centre, on their mobile devices.” He also went on to add that “Additionally, we are seeing consumers shop in short mission focused bursts on mobile devices as they knock items off their Christmas list while commuting or relaxing at home.”

The information that has been collected over the holiday season regarding the ways in which mcommerce is used by Australians will be very important for defining the way that features and services are offered and campaigns are run over upcoming shopping seasons.