A new report showed that this technology sends more traffic into shops and could increase sales.
As shoppers increasingly look to smartphones for products in-store mobile commerce tools are having a greater impact. Brick and mortar shops that offer additional shopping assistance over mobile devices see more traffic and sales.
A recent DMI report showed that 70 percent of U.S. shoppers always or regularly use mobile devices to shop.
Still, retailers have yet to fully implement the kind of in-store mobile commerce opportunities that consumers love. This kind of m-commerce tool has the ability to raise customer engagement and in-store efficiency. Yet they are still not commonplace.
Recent research showed that shoppers want to use their mobile devices while in brick and mortar stores. More specifically, they want to be able to use smartphones as a part of self-checkout systems. They also want to be able to gain access to store inventory. When they are being assisted by a store associate, consumers want to receive alerts to tell them when their items are ready.
In-store mobile commerce tools can incentivize customers to visit shops more frequently.
These mobile apps and other features can also encourage customers to spend larger amounts once they’re there.
The DMI report provided significant insight into this trend. Among U.S. shoppers, 61 percent would visit a favorite retail shop more frequently if it had a better application. These consumers want more tools and improved value from retail apps.
Furthermore, 57 percent of shoppers said they would spend more money in-store if they had a better app to use. Another 70 percent of consumers said they would select one retailer over another based on the mobile tools they offer.
Retailers have traditionally struggled in encouraging consumers to download their mobile apps. The barriers to download include an aversion to standalone apps for every retailer they like. Moreover, many consumers don’t like the clunky functionality many apps have to offer.
However, when retailers introduce strong mobile tools, there are two strong benefits. The first benefit is enhanced user engagement. The second benefit is the chance to boost in-store foot traffic.
Still, shoppers in the millennial generation have yet to be sold on the concept and aren’t yet buying into it.
Social media has been playing an ever growing role in mobile commerce trends when it comes to its impact on consumers as a whole, but when looking at specific demographics, it becomes rapidly clear that millennials aren’t yet all that impressed with what smartphone based shopping has to offer through social platforms.
When it comes to the drivers behind the growth of m-commerce, social media has been highly important.
Brands have been sending a considerable portion of their marketing budgets toward branded content, native advertising and overhauling their mobile apps to improve the experience of shoppers who are continually on the go. That said, there is a considerable difference in the impact of these mobile commerce trends on millennials than there is on shoppers from other age groups. This appears to suggest that the way that millennials want to interact with a brand and the way brands expect them to want to interact with them has not entirely aligned.
Millennial mobile commerce trends show that brands and individuals appear to have different expectations.
The disconnect appears to lie in the place that millennials actually engage with m-commerce. According to recent data from BI Intelligence, consumers in that age group will use those platforms for researching products and services. This appears to be a strong preference over making a purchase through a mobile app.
The BI Intelligence GlobalWebIndex study has indicated that shoppers in the millennial generation will use Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets for looking into products before making a purchase. However, they do not actually make those purchases over mobile commerce channels.
The mobile commerce trends revealed by the study include the estimate that 40 percent of global consumers between the ages of 16 and 24 years old are looking into products via social media. That said, 30 percent of the general population are doing so. Social media is not behaving as a direct product purchasing referral but is instead providing a means through which consumers can educate themselves. Brands that want to encourage purchasing may not find that millennial shoppers are buying through the same platforms they use for their product research, but they will still need to maintain a solid presence over those channels if they want to appeal to those consumers, with Facebook providing the most important influence over shopper decision making.
