Tag: mobile holiday shopping

This year’s predictions about the way consumers will be shopping over smartphones are out.

Even though smartphone payments have yet to be used by mainstream consumers, this year, mobile commerce is definitely going to be a central part of the holiday shopping experience, if the results of a Deloitte study are accurate.

Consumers will be using m-commerce for virtually every part of their holiday shopping experiences.

Although the main ideas associated with mobile commerce are typically the actual purchase of products and services, it involves a great deal more than that, and it is in those broader reaches of the concept that consumers are most interested. Regardless of where the final sale actually takes place, the smartphone is often a contributor to the rest of the journey. For instance, Deloitte’s survey showed that a considerable 78 percent of consumers plan to use their smartphones at some point during the shopping process, this holiday season. Moreover, 72 percent plan to use their tablets as a part of their shopping process.

Mobile commerce habits expected to be taken on by holiday shoppers include everything from scanning barcodes to buying.

This thirtieth annual Deloitte holiday survey involved the participation of 4,000 American consumers. Though the study was commissioned by Deloitte, the final report did not actually mention which firm was hired to conduct the research. Moreover, it did not identify the methods used for selecting the respondents.

That said, the results with regards to the way the participants intended to use their smartphones for m-commerce purposes this holiday season included the following:

• Find store locations – 60 percent
• Price comparisons – 55 percent
• Browsing and “window shopping” online – 50 percent
• Product review reading – 46 percent
• Finding and using coupons and discounts – 45 percent
• Product description reading – 45 percent
• Product inventory checking at sites and stores – 43 percent
• Purchasing a product online – 41 percent
• Consulting social networks – 39 percent
• SMS for exclusive deals from retailers – 33 percent
• Scanning product barcodes for more info – 27 percent

It’s clear from this mobile commerce study that consumers are involving the use of their smartphones and tablets at every stage of the shopping process from product discovery to finding the best place to buy it, locating better prices, informing themselves and actually making the purchase.

Many consumers may use their mobile devices to shop during the holidays

The holiday season is rapidly approaching and this may represent a major opportunity involved in the mobile commerce space. Touch of Modern, an e-commerce company that specializes in exposing men to products and bands that they may be interested in, reports that the 2014 holiday season was particularly significant in terms of growth. The upcoming holiday season may provide the mobile commerce space with significant momentum that will encourage more retailers to become mobile-centric.

Touch of Modern is seeing major growth through the holiday season

Touch of Modern raised some $14 million in Series B funding last year. During that same year, the company’s revenue grew by 400%, with mobile commerce representing a significant portion of this growth. More consumers are accessing e-commerce sites through their mobile devices. These consumers note that using their mobile devices has made it easier for them to shop for and purchase products. Mobile shopping is particularly popular among consumers with long commutes, as they are able to do their shopping while traveling and have products delivered to their homes.

IBM shows that mobile traffic is growing aggressively, largely due to the holiday shopping season

A report from IBM has shown that mobile commerce saw explosive growth in 2014, largely thanks to holiday shopping. On Thanksgiving Day, mobile traffic accounted for some 52.1% of all online traffic. This was the first time that mobile devices accounted for more traffic than their PC counterparts. Consumers also spent more money through their mobile devices during the 2014 holiday season than they had done in 2013.

Retailers may have major opportunities in the mobile commerce field

Mobile commerce may see a greater increase this year than it saw in 2014. More retailers have begun to embrace the mobile space, hoping to engage consumers that favor shopping with their smartphones and tablets. Retailers have significant opportunities that they can take advantage of this year, but they will have to provide consumers with an enjoyable and convenient mobile shopping experience in order to do so.