Tag: mcommerce

Mobile apps are altering the way we shop

| November 26, 2014

Shoppers with smartphones and tablets are using those devices to research products and discounts.

This year, more than ever before, it is expected that consumers will be using mobile apps and other m-commerce opportunities on their smartphones and tablets to be able to compare products and prices and to find better deals, particularly throughout the opening weekend of the holiday shopping season.

This is making it look as though this weekend will be breaking all previous mobile shopping records.

The current prediction of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) are that mobile apps and websites will be used more this weekend than in any other starting weekend of the holiday season. They forecast that 103.3 million Americans will be shopping online – using laptops, desktops, smartphones, and tablets – from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday 2014. This will represent an increase in online shopping over that weekend of 6.1 million shoppers when compared to last year.

The report showed that mobile apps and websites will also be used far more than last year.

Mobile apps affect consumersIt determined that the total number of Americans who planned to shop over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be about 143 million people. Among them, 89 million American adults have the intention of purchasing some form of consumer technology products. The use of mobile devices will come into play at this time in order to compare the various products that are available and to be able to locate the best deals that can be found from retailers that sell them.

Almost three out of every four consumers (74 percent) expect to use their smartphones, tablets, or cell phones while shopping, whether to access shopping applications, to consult the mobile web, or simply to call someone else and ask questions with regards to products or purchases that are being considered. This is the highest total that has ever been recorded by the annual survey conducted by the CEA.

According to the chief economist of the CEA, Shawn DuBravac, “Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the security protocols and in using new payment options as they are being introduced to the marketplace.” He also pointed out that when it comes to mobile apps for payments “there are more options and choices” than there have ever been.

Mobile commerce is becoming popular within the Hispanic community

| November 12, 2014

A new research study has revealed that these shoppers are enjoying the opportunities that smartphone shopping provides.

According to a report that has been published by eMarketer, retailers that are hoping that their holiday shopping sales will be better than ever, this year, will likely want to look into targeting more mobile commerce campaigns toward shoppers within the Hispanic community.

The research revealed that Hispanic shoppers within the United States are using m-commerce to buy.

The eMarketer report revealed that in the U.S., Hispanic consumers have a greater likelihood to make a purchase by way of a smartphone or tablet than their non-Hispanic counterparts. The research was conducted in August and showed that 52 percent of Hispanic shoppers had purchased clothing over mobile commerce within the month prior to the survey. Comparatively, only 38 percent of non-Hispanic shoppers had done the same.

That said, there were many other areas in which Hispanic shoppers used mobile commerce more than non-Hispanics.

mobile commerce in communitiesAmong those areas of m-commerce where Hispanic consumers were shopping more included electronics, music, as well as movie tickets. Moreover, making purchases wasn’t the only shopping activity that was conducted over smartphones and tablets by consumers within this demographic. They were also reading reviews of the products that they were considering (53 percent). Non-Hispanics read reviews over mobile devices only 44 percent of the time.

As Hispanic shoppers informed themselves about products they were considering, they also looked into expert product ratings and not just those left behind by other shoppers. Thirty six percent of shoppers within that ethnic background had searched for the advice of an expert when deciding whether or not they would buy an item or service. Among non-Hispanics, that figure was only 26 percent.

Online videos and social media about products were the two other most important areas where Hispanic shoppers were seeking out information when they were considering a purchase over mobile commerce. That said, among all of the American shoppers, regardless of ethnic background, almost half of the participants in the research had made purchases over a smartphone or tablet during the month previous to the study.