A recent study has shown that shoppers think that the idea of offers over smartphones is attractive.
The results of a recent survey that was conducted by Vista Retail Support, a retail tech firm, has shown that 81 percent of consumers would be willing to accept a mobile marketing offer that was sent to them from a retailer, while an individual was shopping in that store.
Four out of every five consumers would be willing to take advantage of the opportunity those deals could present.
That same study determined that 40 percent of participants would be interested in receiving price comparisons that a retailer would send to their smartphones while they were shopping within that store. This shows that there is a certain willingness among smartphone owners to embrace the type of opportunity that location based mobile marketing has to offer them.
Still, retailers have not yet adopted this type of mobile marketing technology, despite the appeal to consumers.
According to the Vista Retail Support sales and marketing director, Richard Cottrell, “Retailers are not utilizing technology to make personalized offers to their customers, yet the survey shows shoppers are open to this form of interaction, giving retailers a wealth of new opportunities.”
The survey also determined that, on an increasing basis, consumers are looking to chances to be able to buy over their smartphones and then simply pick up their purchases at the store. Among the respondents to the survey, 30 percent – nearly one third – said that they used a service of that nature in order to be able to avoid the Christmas shopping crowds within the stores themselves.
There are clearly many opportunities presented over m-commerce and mobile marketing that are becoming very popular to consumers. It is now up to retailers to identify the technologies that will work best for their offerings, and to make sure that they are keeping up with the expectations of their customers, as they become increasingly reliant on mobile devices for various parts of their daily activities. Those that fail to keep up could end up losing customers to competition with more convenient smartphone based shopping features.
That said, QR codes are still holding a respectable place in the opinion of study respondents.
According to the results of a poll that was recently conducted by Mobile Commerce Press, there are forms of mobile marketing that consumers feel are the most effective, and others in which they have yet to see very much value.
That said, overall, it is clear that consumers do see the value of some types of mobile ads.
The survey was conducted over the first half of November and has indicated that consumers have definite preferences in the way that they want to be reached over their devices such as smartphones and tablets, when it comes to the mobile marketing strategies of their favorite companies.
Some of the top options were those that were on the very cutting edge of mobile technology and that brought to mind images of certain blockbuster science fiction films that were set in the future. This suggests that consumers are becoming quite open minded about the use of mobile commerce and in being reached by companies by way of their favorite connected devices.
Among the key findings that resulted from this mobile marketing study were the following:
• Over 30 percent of respondents felt that geolocation and location based marketing techniques were the most effective.
• More than 30 percent felt that mobile apps with a loyalty program had the greatest effectiveness.
• QR codes continued to hold a respectable position as 24.5 percent of the respondents still felt that they were the most effective form of mobile advertising technique.
• Augmented reality (such as virtual dressing rooms and print ads that “come to life” with digital media when viewed through a mobile device) was thought to be most effective by 7.5 percent of the respondents.
• The categories of SMS mobile marketing, mobile coupons, Hipcricket, and NFC technology were each valued the highest by under 2 percent of the survey respondents.
It was interesting to note the value that was placed on some of the more cutting edge technologies such as geolocation and augmented reality, which are not yet nearly as commonplace as QR codes in today’s mainstream marketplace.
This suggests that it may not be too long before the experience of the character John Anderton (played by Tom Cruise) in the blockbuster movie Minority Report, when he walked through a mall and into a Gap store, may not be too far off. Though that technology involved the use of retina scans in order to identify him and present him with personalized advertising and customer service, a similar type of experience would not be out of realm of possibility for future mobile marketing. Smartphones, tablets, or even wearable technology could be used to identify the individual through geolocation tech, in order to use augmented reality for a personalized advertising and shopping experience.
