Tag: mobile application

Mobile commerce finds strong growth in mobile applications

Mobile applications are beginning to play a major role in mobile commerce. These applications are starting to serve as adequate replacements for NFC technology, allowing more consumers to participate in mobile commerce than ever before. Canalys, a leading market research firm, has released a new report highlighting the growth of mobile applications and the role they are beginning to play in the adoption and expansion of mobile commerce. The report suggests that mobile commerce could come to replace traditional online shopping methods in the near future.

Report highlights performance of mobile applications

According to the report, downloads of mobile applications grew by 11% in the first quarter of 2013. Approximately 13 billion apps were downloaded during that quarter. Many of these applications offered mobile commerce services or some kind of in-app purchase opportunity. Together, these applications accounted for $2.2 billion in paid downloads and in-app purchases during the first quarter, a 9% increase over the previous quarter. The report suggests that the growing popularity of mobile applications, as well as their increasing value, is largely due to the convenience these applications offer, especially in regards to mobile commerce.

Mobile everything is becoming the favored solution for consumers

More consumers are showing favor for using their mobile devices for daily activities, such as online searches, shopping, and engaging in social networks. Mobile services typically offer consumers a range of opportunities to make in-app purchase, either by unlocking additional features for an application or simply purchasing a product through that application. Canalys estimates that the growing popularity of these applications will push the download mark to over 20 billion by the end of this year and that these applications will account for $3.1 billion in revenue.

Mobile commerce still facing several challenges

Canalys notes that the mobile commerce market is still immature and is difficult to measure accurately. There are several challenges that mobile commerce faces that could put a damper on the markets promising future. The most significant of these challenges is security, which is growing more important as consumers begin to understand how much their financial information could be at risk. The continued growth of mobile commerce will also be largely dependent on the social and economic impact it will have. A negative impact will cause the support for mobile commerce to all but evaporate, while a positive impact will encourage more consumers to get involved.

A new marketing promotion has been released and is geared toward smartphone carrying teens.

Aeropostale, an apparel retailer geared toward teen shoppers is working to overhaul its mobile commerce channel in order to boost the business it is achieving directly with the consumer.

The retailer has identified this channel as vital to its target market, which uses these devices heavily.

The adolescent consumer market is one that has experienced massive penetration of smartphones, tablets, and other similar devices. This makes mobile commerce potentially very important to retailers that have teens as their primary shoppers.

Aeropostale has been offering a mobile commerce experience since June 2010, but has recognized the need for change.

The company has now made alterations to the mobile commerce app for iPhones, with the goal of making it more interactive and convenient to use. The company has revealed its hopes that these efforts will start to shift purchasing away from physical stores and into the online environment through these devices.

Aeropostale is not alone in this effort to gear shopping toward a more mobile commerce experience than one that is in-store. Other retailers who target smartphone using demographics have also been introducing and updating apps through which product research and purchases can be made.

This particular apparel retailer has seen some successes along this line. When its mobile commerce website was first launched in 2010, for example, purchases made over that channel made up only 2 percent of its total web sales. However, by March of 2013, this had grown to 13 percent of total online sales. At the same time, 36 percent of the traffic to the merchant’s website has been reported to come from smartphones and tablets.

It is in the pursuit of this level of growth that this company, and others like it, have continued to grow their mobile commerce efforts and try to apply more creative and appealing strategies that will encourage consumers to choose them over the competition. It has now come to the point that marketing experts are cautioning businesses that have not yet stepped into this channel, that they could begin to lose their competitiveness, as they will no longer be offering the type of experience that consumers will expect from them.