Tag: smartphone shopping

M-commerce apps used more often by iPhone than Android users

m-commerce app mobile shoppingThe results of a recent study have indicated that Apple smartphone users shop over applications the most.

Arbitron has just released the results of its most recent marketing research study, and has revealed that when it comes to m-commerce apps, iPhone owners are using them much more often than Android smartphone owners.

The difference in the proportion of device owners who are using these apps is a considerable one.

The study showed that 67.5 percent of iPhone owners also use m-commerce apps, when compared to Android smartphone owners, among whom only 43. 9 percent use these applications. This could suggest that for companies with apps, iPhone customers may be their sweetest plum.

There was also a difference in the amount that the device users were spending over m-commerce apps.

Among iPhone users, the average number of m-commerce trips over apps every month was 35. Moreover, they spent an average of 105.5 minutes shopping using their smartphones every month. On the other hand, Android smartphone users went on an average of 29.5 virtual shopping trips every month, during which time they spent an average 87.6 minutes on the task.

The report on the results of the survey did not suggest any conclusions as to why this difference exists between the m-commerce app usage habits of iPhone owners and those of Android smartphone owners.

There has been third party speculation that while there are about the same total number of apps available in both formats, there may be more m-commerce apps that are available exclusively for Apple devices. Moreover, there has been a trend of releasing some apps over iOS first, with a wait time of several weeks or months before an Android option becomes available. Instagram has been used as a well known example of this trend, as there was an 18 month wait for Android users after iOS users were already enjoying the application.

That said, this data was not included in the Arbitron research, which examined only the m-commerce app usage habits. It did not go on to investigate what might be the causes behind those behaviors by each type of device user.

Mobile commerce popularity rises at smartphone sized mall

Mobile Commerce Shopping MallDozens of retailers have come together to make the unique new shopping app and site.

Tinyview has reported that the mobile commerce element of their iPhone app has become exceptionally popular and that it has built the concept of a smartphone sized shopping mall that is developing into a growing trend.

At the moment, Tinyview is reporting that 90 percent of their app users are accessing this section.

What the company has discovered is that consumers like the idea of being able to use an app for mobile commerce purposes, but they don’t want to have to download applications for every store or brand from which they would like to make a purchase. Instead, they are enjoying the opportunity to be able to buy products and services from a range of different retailers all within a single location.

This mobile commerce concept allowed the idea of the smartphone shopping mall to be created.

The discovery that consumers prefer shopping at many mobile commerce stores through one app allowed the Tinyview startup to develop and has created the smartphone shopping mall which has been steadily growing in its popularity.

By February this year, the startup had both an iPhone app and a smartphone friendly website where consumers could browse, learn more about products, and make purchases from 50 different retailers within a single location. It is essentially a single user interface that is placed on top of a collection of the mobile commerce websites of each of those companies, including big names such as: Target Corp., Walmart.com, Amazon.com Inc., Forever 21, Macy’s Inc., Abercrombie & Fitch, Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom Inc., and others.

To use the mobile commerce mall, consumers choose the merchant they want from among the various available stores. He or she can the search for or peruse the various items available and can keep track of products of interest using a “save” button on the product page. Save lists can be kept through a one-time sign-in to a Facebook account. Those lists can be used for making their own purchases, or they can be shared with family and friends on the social network.