ScanLife reports on the performance of QR codes
ScanLife, a leading mobile engagement platform, has released a new report concerning the performance of QR codes during this year’s Black Friday. Black Friday was heralded as a monumental day for mobile commerce and the day itself did not disappoint. Several retailers have reported positive gains in the wake of Black Friday, largely due to the various mobile commerce ventures they had in place for the holiday season. Though QR codes are not often linked with mobile commerce, ScanLife notes that the codes saw a great deal of positive attention on Black Friday.
Codes beginning to break away from marketing
QR codes are most often used in mobile marketing as a way to engage mobile consumers. The codes are proficient in this task, though relatively rarely used by actual consumers. Recently, QR codes have been growing in prominence in the mobile commerce space, where they are being used to provide information concerning particular products or link to an e-commerce site. Typically, the codes receive modest attention from shoppers, but were able to attract a lot of use on Black Friday.
ScanLife sees 50% increase in QR code engagement
According to ScanLife, mobile barcode scans rose over 50% higher than the daily average on Black Friday. ScanLife itself processed more than 250,000 unique scans during the shopping day, with 75% of all scans coming from QR codes rather than any other barcode. The consumer electronics and retail industries saw the most traffic through QR codes during Black Friday.
Codes could become a staple in mobile commerce
Though QR codes are often criticized for the poor engagement statistics, they served a vital role during the holiday shopping weekend. The codes helped make mobile commerce a success during Thanksgiving day and Black Friday. The performance of the codes may help encourage retailers to make use of them to further mobile commerce and shopping initiatives. The codes could also be used in virtual “pop-up” stores, where they can be scanned by consumers to purchase products.
Mobile commerce performs well on Thanksgiving day
Mobile commerce has performed well, even ahead of Black Friday. The holiday season has been expected to be a major success for the mobile commerce industry, but this success may be quickly exceeding the expectations of retailers and those invested in the mobile commerce industry itself. According to data from IBM’s Benchmark service, a platform that provides ongoing measurements of the performance of more than 500 retail companies in the U.S., shows that consumers have been eager to kick start their holiday shopping.
Data shows mobile traffic spikes on Thanksgiving
According to the data from the Benchmark service, online sales spiked 14% on Thanksgiving day, with each sale accounting for an average of $132. The data highlights a strong showing from the mobile commerce sector, where a veritable tide of consumers have been using their mobile devices to purchase products online and at the few retail locations that were open on the holiday. The data shows that the number of consumers using a mobile device to visit a retail site reached 26% on Thanksgiving day, up from the 15% it had been in the previous year.
Apple suggests shopping on holidays becoming more socially acceptable
Technology giant Apple suggests that this is largely due to the concept that mobile commerce and shopping has become more socially acceptable on the day of the holiday. In the past, shopping on Thanksgiving day may have been considered somewhat anti-social, if not wholly impossible due to it being a federal holiday. The stigma surrounding holiday shopping may be diminishing, however, as IBM sees a significant uptick in the number of consumers that are actually purchasing products from their mobile devices. Approximately 9% of all mobile traffic is coming from iOS devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, according to Apple.
Data expected to show capabilities of mobile commerce
The data from the IBM Benchmark service shows that mobile commerce certainly kicked off the holiday shopping season, which began nearly 24 hours before Black Friday. Black Friday remains the most important day of the year for the retail industry, however, and the data for such a major shopping day is expected to further show how powerful mobile commerce is becoming with consumers.
