Recent research has investigated the way that the retail landscape is changing because of smartphones and tablets.
The latest results of a market research study from uSamp and iModerate have just been released and have produced some insight regarding the role that mobile commerce is playing within the current shopping ecosystem.
These findings have specifically focused on the motivations and barriers faced by consumers.
The study concentrated on the main drivers and struggles that consumers were facing in terms of mobile commerce in addition to providing some insight as to their shopping behaviors such as what they are buying, where they are making their purchases, and which devices they prefer.
The study was a form of mobile commerce hybrid market research exercise to allow businesses to optimize their strategies.
The research was a part of the Marketplace Insights series that has been produced by premier technology provider, uSamp, and leading qualitative research firm, iModerate. The respondents to the survey helped to provide greater insight into the impact that mobile commerce is having on the overall shopping environment.
The study indicated that even though mobile commerce is growing in popularity, it is still facing certain considerable barriers. Among them are functionality and security. At the same time, though, the consumers who have embraced shopping over their smartphones and tablets, they did have a limit to the amount that they were willing to spend over those devices. The research suggested that the average number of dollars those individuals are spending is $491.
The survey results indicated that people purchase different items over mobile commerce depending on the device that they are using to shop. Among the primary categories were movies, music and games (64 percent of smartphone users have purchased from this category), and books (60 percent of tablet users have purchased from this category). Another category of note was groceries, where 26 percent of smartphone users had made a purchase.
According to the report on the study, the findings regarding mobile commerce purchasing behaviors align very well with the way that a certain product translates through the use of a specific type of device.
Firm raises funds to help power mobile commerce expansion
Mobile commerce firm Clutch has raised $5.3 million during its Series B funding initiative. The company focuses on providing innovative mobile commerce services through the combination of electronic gifting, loyalty programs, and merchant rewards. The firm’s services have become relatively popular throughout the mobile commerce sector, especially among businesses that are interested in engaging consumers with smartphones and tablets. Part of the appeal of Clutch has to do with the company’s ability to combine several services into a singular platform, making mobile commerce somewhat more approachable.
Funding to help Clutch add new features and perfect those that already exist
Safeguard Scientifics, a capital and operational support provider for health care and technology companies, contributed the majority share of Clutch’s latest round of funding. The funds raised will be used to make progress in the development of Clutch’s mobile commerce platform. New business-to-business features will be introduced into the platform to make it more accommodating of the needs that businesses have when it comes to mobile commerce.
Clutch acquires loyalty program provider ProfitPoint
Clutch is not only raising money to support its mobile commerce platform, of course, as the company recently announced its acquisition of ProfitPoint, a provider of loyalty and gift programs. The acquisition is expected to help Clutch further develop its own loyalty programs and make them more valuable to businesses. Clutch has also acquired Sqoot, an aggregator of deals being offered by Goupon, Living Social, and Yelp.
Loyalty programs becoming more important as mobile commerce grows
According to Clutch, retailers that utilize loyalty programs experience a 46% increase in purchases coming from consumers. With more consumers beginning to show serious interest in mobile commerce, loyalty programs are becoming more important for retailers. These programs provide retailers with a way to ensure consumers continue purchasing products from them rather than their competitors. While mobile commerce allows consumers to be very flexible in their shopping, those using their smartphones and tablets to purchase products have shown a tendency to stick to a single retailer or a small group of retailers that can provide everything they need.
