Category: Mobile Marketing

Brick and mortar shops are finding that smartphones present an important opportunity for advertising.

A new report from InReality, the first from this firm, which was entitled “Reality of Retail”, has shown that mobile marketing is starting to play an important role in-store due to the massive increase in the use of smartphones by consumers.

Despite the influx of mobile device use, in-store purchases still represent the largest percentage of retail sales.

In fact, 94 percent of retail sales in the United States are made in-store. That said, those shoppers are using their smartphones to an increasing extent while they are inside those shops, so it represents a very important opportunity for retailers to be able to connect with customers through mobile marketing. The InReality also went on to report that not all of the research that consumers are doing with regards to products that they want is being conducted online.

This means that mobile marketing in-store has a considerable chance to influence decisions.

The participants in the research showed that 53 percent of shoppers prefer to learn more about the products that they are considering by going to the store itself. Among shoppers between the ages of 18 and 24 years, that percentage rose to 57 percent. Among the shoppers who do head to the brick and mortar shops, 75 percent reported that they use their mobile devices. This does not stop them from making the purchases inside the stores. Among those who did buy, one in four said that they had bought items using m-commerce.

That said, while traditional advertising in-store is still very important, InReality said that they will need to alter their strategies. Fifty six percent of shoppers explained that advertising has an impact on the decisions that they make while in-store. Only 12 percent feel that sales assistants in-store are “an important touchpoint in a purchase decision.” At the same time that 46 percent of shoppers say that loyalty programs help them to make their decisions, 71 percent of the users of loyalty programs will still use their smartphones while in-store in order to compare products and prices through mobile marketing tools.

Google wants companies to make mobile websites in order to keep their search engine rankings

Google is making changes to the way it ranks websites on its popular search engine. Such changes are not uncommon from the company, which often updates its ranking methodology to accommodate changing trends in various sectors. One of the most influential of these trends is the growing use of mobile technology. With more consumers using smartphones and tablets to browse the Internet, Google has issued a mandate for those ranked on its search engine to become more mobile friendly.

Companies have until April 21 to make mobile websites

Websites have until April 21 to meet Google’s standards concerning mobile friendliness if they do not want to receive a lower ranking on the company’s search engine. Large companies have already addressed the mobile friendly issue, making their websites easily accessible via mobile devices. Smaller businesses, however, may struggle to adopt to Google’s new search standards, as they may not have the resources needed to become mobile-centric. Mobile websites have become a powerful tool that can be used to engage a new generation of consumers.

Small businesses may see the most significant impact from Google’s new rules

Small retailers may see the greatest impact by not complying with Google’s new standards. These companies tend to operate their own websites, choosing not to use services like WordPress. As such, they often acquire the services of web developers and designers, whom are responsible for the functionality of these sites and how they look. Making a website mobile friendly can be a difficult and expensive task, which smaller companies may not be able to accomplish in the amount of time that Google has given them.

Growing number of consumers opt to use their mobile devices to shop online

Consumers have shown that they favor companies that have mobile websites, as these sites are easier to navigate on smartphones and tablets. Companies that offer an enjoyable mobile experience tend to find more traction with mobile consumers, especially those interested in digital commerce. Mobile has become a major priority for the retail industry, which has seen a major increase in the number of consumers that are shopping from their mobile devices.