Author: JT

Today’s businesses must not only go mobile, but must do it while keeping up with other trends.

Shopping via mcommerce is undergoing exponential growth, and as smartphones become increasingly popular and customer awareness of how to take part in the many different forms of the sector – from information to discounts to purchasing – it is only expected to skyrocket further.

eBay and Nielsen have each released the retail trends that start with smartphones and work outward.

The latest eBay Online Business Index (OBI) has shown that approximately half of all of the participating businesses had stated that they would be optimizing their online content for mcommerce. Nearly another quarter – 24 percent – stated that they would be developing a site meant specifically for mobile, while over 20 percent said that they would be creating an app.

The reason is that consumers want to be able to interact with their favorite companies through mobile commerce.

The most recent annual Nielsen Retail and Shopper Trends Report identified a wide list of trends that represent the way that the marketplace is shifting. Top among them is mcommerce, but it is clear that many of the other trends are closely linked to this sector and must be woven into its strategies.

Among these trends are the following:

• Mcommerce – this holds the top spot because its growth and hype is simply unmatched. It is a trend that is acting like a craze, as consumers find themselves equipped with everything they need once they purchase a smartphone. eBay, itself, just experienced its 100 millionth download of its app, and has now recorded 100 million mobile listings.

• Private labels sliding – Nielsen’s report showed that there has been a slip of 0.7 percent in the overall penetration of private labels. This is especially true in the grocery sector. Branded products emphasis by top retailers has been a primary driver in this trend. It shows that price wars are fierce and that shoppers are looking for the best deal and not necessarily the store they used to automatically choose. Mcommerce can benefit greatly by this knowledge, as can those who are marketing over mobile channels.

• Price importance – the latest report from Nielsen showed that the awareness of price among shoppers has risen significantly. Two years ago, fewer than 50 percent of consumers felt that they felt confident that they knew the prices of the products that they purchased the most frequently. This leapt to 60 percent this year. Price is a key factor in purchasing decisions, particularly with the movement away from private labels. As mcommerce is a sphere where a consumer can comparison shop among dozens, if not hundreds of different shops for the same or a similar product, prices must be competitive and easy to obtain, while value must be clearly demonstrated.

Reaching consumers once they’ve walked into your shop.

If you’re expecting your mobile commerce strategy to simply be a version of your e-commerce efforts, only suited to a smaller screen, then you will be missing the majority of the opportunities that are available to you through this channel.

The smaller screen is just the jumping off point, since it makes sure that your content is accessible.

In the United States – which isn’t even the mobile commerce world leader – there is double digit growth being seen in this sphere. It has been predicted that by 2015, the marketplace will be worth almost $300 billion. So it is important for retailers and merchants of all kind to make sure that they are making proper use of this channel, and aren’t missing out on tremendous opportunities.

The key to m-commerce is the fact that it is (obviously) mobile. Instead of reaching consumers while they are sitting at home or at work, retailers can connect with them no matter where they are or when it is. This includes when consumers are actually within the physical store locations. Why is this important? Most retailers would think that once they’ve drawn the consumers into their stores, then their marketing has worked. Job done.

However, if you stop there, then you’ve stopped showing your customers why they should choose you over the competition.

Why does that matter when they’re already in your store? Because a consumer with a smartphone can wander into your shop, look over a product, and then use the mobile device to comparison shop with other merchants, you need to take actions to make your offers more attractive than what can be found online.

In-store mobile commerce has, therefore, become a vital part of an overall marketing strategy. What it means is that advertising and promoting over the mobile channel doesn’t necessarily need to be done with the online shopper in mind. Instead, it fuses brick and mortar retail with the virtual world, so that technology can help to make sure the shopper in the store actually makes a purchase.

There are a full range of techniques already being used for in store mobile marketing, ranging from location based offers that send discounts, coupons, and other promotions to consumers that have entered the shop, to the use of QR codes, simplified mobile payment transactions, self checkouts, and other features for savings and convenience.