Tag: mobile shopping

The rise of mobile shopping is changing the way consumers behave in the digital space

Consumer behavior is beginning to have a significant impact on digital commerce. Many consumers are becoming more mobile-centric, relying on their smartphones and tablets to research and purchase products that they are interested in. A recent report from Forrester Research shows that merchants may have to begin focusing more heavily on the mobile space as a result, as mobile commerce is becoming a very powerful force in the retail space, especially as more consumers become comfortable with the concept.

More consumers are beginning to use their devices in physical stores

According to the report from Forrester Research, 82% of consumers in the United States make purchasing decisions while in a physical store, with 56% of these consumers using their smartphones to check prices online. The report also shows that the capabilities of mobile devices are also changing consumer behavior. When in stores, more consumers are beginning to scan barcodes with their mobile devices in order to read reviews and compare prices. Consumers are also scanning codes to take advantage of special deals being offered by merchants.

Loyalty programs may help secure the growth of mobile shopping

Mobile commerce has become a very significant concept for the retail industry. One-third of all e-commerce transactions made throughout the world are now done via a mobile device. A recent report from Goldman Sachs predicts that mobile commerce will account for nearly half of all e-commerce transactions made worldwide by 2018. As this sector continues to grow, loyalty programs may become much more important to retailers than they already are. Approximately 46% of consumers are more willing to provide personal information if they can make use of a loyalty program of some sort.

Consumers are less likely to share personal information outside loyalty programs

While loyalty programs may provide merchants with more information about their customers, these people have limits when it comes to the information they want to provide. Outside of loyalty programs, consumers are less likely to share personal information. This is something that retailers will have to keep in mind once they begin focusing more heavily on the mobile commerce space in the future.

Consumers who use their smartphones for researching products and making purchases shop differently.

Consumers who regularly participate in mobile shopping have a tendency to prefer products with which they have already become familiar and that they purchase on a regular basis, according to American research.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

The research also determined that mobile shopping is considered to be a solid way for boosting consumer loyalty – also referred to as “stickiness” – among customers, especially when it comes to people who are purchasing in small volumes. The study discovered that this is because m-commerce encourages customers to purchase on a more frequent basis and to boost the size of the orders they place. The study was held by marketing PhD candidate Jen-Hui Wang from the Kellogg School, as well as marketing professor from the same school, Lakshman Krishnamurthi, as well as Edward Malthouse from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern.

This research was conducted by analyzing online and mobile shopping data from 13 American locations.

More specifically, the data analyzed was from an online grocery retailer that operates within these 13 U.S. locations. The data was broken down into two separate periods. The first was from June 2012 through October 2012. During that time , an ad campaign was launched by the grocery retailer for its mobile app. The time span was from November 2012 through June 2013.

What was determined was that PC users during the first data set displayed different behaviors than those in the second period of time who had started using the mobile app. The shoppers whose total spending was smaller than the average value within the first span of time boosted their average order size when they started buying over mobile commerce than they had when they were buying over e-commerce.

On the side of consumers who spent more than the average, their size orders didn’t seem to change from e-commerce to mobile shopping. However, when they started buying over mobile apps, they started to make their orders more frequently than they had on their PCs.