An infographic released by Shopzilla has indicated that smartphones and tablets having a meaningful impact.
In the official launch of Shopzilla Inc.’s new monthly online shopping research initiative, the company has published an infographic that has pointed out a number of key trends, including the importance that m-commerce is having to the sales that are being made over the internet.
The first issue of this monthly report is the start of the tracking of key shopping trends online.
The data presented in this e- and m-commerce report and infographic is based on a survey that was conducted directly following purchasing from the Bizrate Insights Network. That network includes more than 5,200 American and Canadian online retailers. This study data was collected from April 24 through April 30, 2013 with the participation of more than 9,000 buyers.
Among the findings of the online and m-commerce trend survey which were included in the infographic were the following:
There were a number of surprising trends from consumers over various e- and m-commerce channels, such as:
• More sales were driven by emails from stores than magazines, Facebook, and blogs and content sites.
• Though desktops continue to lead the way (used by 85 percent of the respondents), 11 percent of the online purchases came from an iPad tablet device. This figure was 20 percent for those with HHI $150K+.
• iPhones performed far less than their Apple tablet m-commerce counterparts, with 2 percent.
• That said, Android phones performed equally to iPhones, at 2 percent, but Android based tablets were far behind iPads, at less than 1 percent.
• Tablets and smartphones based on other operating systems both came in at less than 1 percent.
• Among the respondents, 75 percent said that price helped to influence their buying decisions.
• The respondents said that they’d rather spend than try to be frugal in 28 percent of the cases.
• Thirty one percent felt that they would be spending more in the month following than they did that month.
• Seventeen percent of online purchases were made from the workplace.
The complete findings of the Shopzilla study are available on their website.
Amazon aims to set itself apart in the mobile commerce field
Amazon is beginning to feel the weight of mounting competition in the field of online retail. Competition is beginning to heat up as more companies begin embracing mobile commerce for the sake of consumers that rely heavily on smartphones and tablets. Amazon is among the earliest adopters of mobile commerce as its position as an online retailer made the company well suited to meet the needs of mobile consumers. With competition from other retailers, however, Amazon has moved to set itself apart from other companies and has introduced its own virtual currency.
Amazon Coins could be an effective mobile commerce and loyalty tool
Virtual currency is not particularly popular with consumers. This type of currency is most often seen in the world of gaming, where consumers can purchase and use this currency to unlock additional content in the games they enjoy. In retail, virtual currency is somewhat rare as most retailers are content with handling actual money. Virtual currencies are not typically associated with mobile commerce as these currencies are not often associated with mobile platforms of any kind. Amazon believes that its virtual currency, called Amazon Coins, could be quite effective at capturing the loyalty of consumers, especially those interested in mobile commerce, as these Coins can only be used to purchase products through Amazon.
Coins can be used to purchase products from the Appstore
Those interested in using Amazon’s new currency must first purchase the Coins from the company. For 500 Coins, consumers will have to pay $5. The Coins can be used to purchase anything from the Amazon Appstore and are exclusive to Kindle Fire tablets. As such, the Coins are somewhat exclusive, catering to a niche market comprised of those with Kindle Fire devices. While the Kindle Fire has proven to be very popular, Amazon does not expect that the device is so popular that it would encourage consumers to purchase Coins. So, Amazon has decided to give away its Coins for free.
Amazon gives Coins away for free
This week, Amazon has deposited 500 Coins into the accounts of every Kindle Fire user. Amazon expects that the Coins will be well received among consumers as they can be used to purchase a multitude of applications, mobile games, music, and e-books from the Appstore. Moreover, items purchased using Coins typically receive a 10% discount, making the virtual currency more alluring for Kindle Fire users. Whether the Coins will succeed in helping Amazon establish a stronger presence in mobile commerce has yet to be seen.
