Small Businesses Missing Out on Mobile

Consumers are fully engaged with mobile technology. Recent studies show
that 75% of US consumers own a smart phone and nearly half of US
households have a tablet. Recently we’ve posted articles on the growth
of the mobile only consumer. While national and regional businesses are
taking advantage of mobile visibility, small businesses are not as involved
with this key consumer medium.

Nearly 80% of SMBs don’t utilize mobile, here
are some of the factors preventing them:
● 50% said they don’t know how to build a
mobile app
● 23% said they were too busy running their business and can’t maintain a mobile app
● 22% said it’s too expensive to develop a
mobile app
● 5% are worried about the security risks
associate with mobile

 

What Does This Mean To You?

Mobile commerce continues to grow. Last year, Mcommerce reached over $200 billion, this year it’s expected to hit nearly $300 billion. By 2018, mobile will account for nearly half of all Ecommerce. Also, desktop/laptop penetration is deteriorating. Some studies are showing that mobile device use eclipsed desktop/laptop use last year.
All this adds up to one thing – by not including mobile in their portfolio, small businesses are cutting off a potential revenue source. Mobile technology continues to evolve and everyday new functionality that is developing that can drive consumers to your business.
The growth of mobile has made it cheaper to have a mobile solution that small businesses don’t have to build and are easily maintained.
Lots of businesses were weary of developing online solutions. How many of these businesses that did not adapt to online are still operational?
Consumers see mobile technology as an extension of their lives. By not embracing mobile, these small businesses are at risk of putting a barrier between themselves and customers.
For more information on how small businesses can better compete with regional or national competitors, please contact:

amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: eMarketer, Edurance

To Shop or Not On Thanksgiving, That is the Question

Last week, we posted information on how much mobile shopping will take place for the couch on Thanksgiving Day. Every year, more retailers are moving from just being a virtual destination on Thanksgiving Day to being a physical one. New research has become available that shows consumers are split on hitting brick and mortar stores on Thanksgiving Day.

● Half of all consumers surveyed are against shopping in-store on Thanksgiving Day
● 33% think it’s OK to hit stores on Thanksgiving and 17% were undecided
● In 2012, research showed that only 10%-15% were open to physically shop on Thanksgiving
● Older consumers are the most opposed to shopping on Thanksgiving. Just 16% think it’s appropriate to go brick and mortar shopping on Thanksgiving.
● Younger Millenials are Thanksgiving day shopping’s biggest proponent. Half of adults age 18-24 would shop on Thanksgiving Day. 48% of adults 25-34 agree with them
● Men are more open to shopping on Thanksgiving than Women. 37% of men like the idea of shopping on Thanksgiving Day while only 29% of women do.

What This Means To You

The idea of opening on Thanksgiving Day is a decision that only a business owner can make. While there is a growing market for in-store shopping on Thanksgiving, there are some mitigating factors . There can be some consumer backlash and staffing could be an issue.
Some businesses that have made the choice to open on Thanksgiving have decided to give a portion of profits to charity. You may need to provide a bonus or additional compensation to get people to work on Thanksgiving. If you decide to open on Thanksgiving, you may want to come up with a strategy for equitable distribution of holiday time-off.
For more information on how to create more traffic this holiday season,
please contact:

amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: LoyaltyOne

How To Increase the Likelihood of In-Store Sales During the Holidays

Recently, we’ve posted several pieces on holiday shopping and how you can leverage consumer behaviors. We’ve looked at when people will be shopping, to where they will be shopping, to how much influence technology will have. In today’s post, we’re going to look a recent study that points out features that increase the probability of consumers making an in-store purchases.

● Knowledgeable sales associates increase in-store purchase potential by 48%
● Self-Service or mobile checkout can create a 24% in sales probability
● Barcode scanners to confirm price and will increase potential sales by 23%
● Personalized mobile coupons create a 21% increase in purchase potential
● Personalized coupons available through social media can create a 17% lift

What This Means To You

While some people love going to the stores during the holidays, others not so much. In fact, a recent study showed that a large percentage of people consider going to the mall during the holidays their worst nightmare. Even shoppers who can’t wait to hit the stores during the holidays will probably like some added convenience. All of the things that have been shown to increase potential sales are things that make shopping more convenient. On average shoppers hit 4.6 different venues during holiday shopping trips. When you save these customers time and stress, you become a preferred shopping destination.
Your biggest asset to increase potential sales is your employees. Helpful associates make it easier for customers to find the items they need. Rewarding associates for helpful behavior will pay dividends well past the holidays. While self-service checkout and barcode stations could call for capital expenses, a mobile and social coupons campaign can be efficiently deployed.
The key to a successful campaign is the personalization. A truly personalized campaign goes beyond just using their name. It leverages past buying behavior to create relevant offers.
Don’t look at the holidays as the end of the year, view them as a pathway to create long term shoppers. For more information on how to you can create more sales today and loyal customers tomorrow, please contact:

amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: Deloitte

How Much Influence Will Technology Have on Holiday Shopping?

We are going to continue or look at this year’s holiday season.
Today, we’ll take a deeper dive into how big an influence technology
will have on shopping. Four Holiday seasons ago, mobile started changing
the way consumers discover, research, locate and purchase goods and services. Beacons and mobile point of sale payment are continuing the evolution of digital commerce. New research shows us how much consumers will be using technology this Winter holiday season.

● 67% holiday shoppers own smart phones and 50% own tablets. 72% of smart phone owners and 69% of tablet owners will use their devices during the holiday shopping process
● 75% of shoppers will use social media sites in the holiday shopping process
● 28% will consult online reviews, 20% will contribute to review sites and 11% will share holiday shopping experiences through social media
● 23% will use a smart phone to find local businesses and obtain directions to stores

What This Means To You
Technology and digital devices are a big part of consumer’s lives. Your customers and most likely shoppers are using smart phones and tablets to find places to find the goods and services they need and let others know about their experiences.  Long past are the days when companies needed to be mobile friendly or mobile optimized.  Today, you should be working towards being mobile first. Why? More and more consumers are becoming mobile only. These potential customers only use smart phones and tablets – not desktops. If you are not providing these customers with the mobile experiences they want, they will likely turn to your competitors.
Many of the tasks consumers once used their desktops/laptops for, they now rely on mobile devices for. Social media, email and web surfing are just three of them. Each of these offer you ways of recruiting new customers and reinforcing loyalty among existing ones. But, if you are not fully engaged with mobile technologies, you are likely losing opportunities and sales. For more information on how to create better customer relationships and increase store traffic through mobile, please contact:

amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: Deloitte

Are You Mobile-ly Ready For The Winter Holidays?

We are just a couple of weeks away from the “official” start of the Winter Holiday Shopping Season. Because many retailers have started their Holiday campaigns before Halloween and because Thanksgiving falls late on the calendar this year, it’s estimated that nearly 30% of shoppers have already started shopping for the Winter Holidays. Digital shopping through both mobile and desktop/laptop devices is expected to increase again this year. The better your mobile/digital strategy, the merrier your season will be.

● Mobile is expected to account for 31% of Thanksgiving sales –
that equals over $418 million
● Mobile shopping on Thanksgiving is anticipated to increase by
21% over last year
● Mobile will also account for 21% of Black Friday shopping – a total of $644 million
● Mobile Black Friday shopping is predicted to increase by 20%-30%
● Mobile shopping on Cyber Monday is forecast to account for 20% of total online sales – that’s roughly $520 million

What This Means To You
Why have mobile devices become such an integral part of our lives? One of the obvious answers is of convenience and value. While everyone wants to save money, more people want to save time and that’s what mobile devices can do. Mobile shopping on Thanksgiving gives consumers the ability to spend time with families and take advantage of sales…all from the comfort of the couch while watching football in a semi-turkey coma. Mobile also allows consumers to multi-task while shopping in store. Holiday shopping is a tradition, but not everyone is into mall crowds. In fact, new research has come out that shows
65% of consumers consider holiday mall shopping as one of their worst nightmares. Mobile shopping can help you increase your share of shoppers, gain earlier Holiday sales and create an efficient revenue pathway – but it all depends on your strategy.
Are you offering your Black Friday deals on Thanksgiving?
Are you incentivizing shoppers to visit your stores on
Thanksgiving Day?
How are you marketing your holiday online offerings?
Do you offer in-store WI-FI?
Are you using beacon technology?
For more information on taking full advantage of mobile shopping,
please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: Mobile Commerce Daily, Adobe; Accent

Are Consumers Making In-App Purchases?

The age of the mobile-first consumer is here. Over the past four years, mobile technology has forever changed the way consumers discover, research, purchase and recommend products.
Apps are one of the most popular mobile platforms. On average, consumer has nearly 30 different apps on their smart phone. But are they making purchases in these different apps?

• One in three consumers use retail apps on a weekly basis
• Less than 20% of retail apps provide in-app purchase
• 54% of mobile users said they were not interested in the ability to make in-app purchases
• 20% were interested in the ability to make in app purchases
• 4% of mobile users have make in-app purchases on a daily basis and 7% make those purchases on a weekly basis
• Under 10% have made in-app purchases on a monthly basis

What Does This Mean To You?

Consumers love their apps. Nearly 90% of mobile media time is spent through apps.  While nearly 55% of consumers said they are not interested in make in-app purchases, which will most likely change. Look at it this way – less than four years ago, there was research showing that consumers were not likely to use their mobile devices to go online or shop via mobile device.
Then mobile shopping exploded during the holiday season three years ago.
Does this mean that consumers will soon flock to making purchases in-app?
Maybe, Maybe not. But with so many consumers, spending so much time on apps, it’s a good bet that in-app purchasing could be on the rise. The other factor that could influence in-app purchasing is beacons and disruptive notifications. Beacon technology and the “internet of things” is bound to be the next wave of mobile engagement. Look for beacons to become much more common this holiday shopping season. For more information on how to maximize your mobile offerings, please call:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: eMarketer; 451 Research; Forrester Consulting; L2 Think Thank

What Influences College Spending

Yesterday, we posted information on the spending behaviors of college students. Today we’ll look at what influences that spending behavior. The more you can do to connect with those influencing factors, the more likely you will benefit from increased spending.

• Nearly 60% of college students say that recommendations from their friends are very influential in what and where they spend
• 55% of students say that online coupons are highly influential and 45% say the same as mobile coupons
• Nearly 40% say that product review sites are very influential in their spending patterns
• 34% say the ability try or test driving products before buying influences them to purchase
• Over 30% say that general word-of-mouth or buzz is very influential in what they buy

What Does This Mean To You?

Because the opinions of friends are so import, there are two things that should be investigated.
Loyalty programs and testimonials. Students, like all consumers will share great offers. Also, college students want to be considered influencers. When you get a student involved in a loyalty program, it gives you the opportunity to communicate directly with them. Whether it’s email, text or even direct mail, students can easily forward or pass along a great offer. Great offer being key to the amount of sharing that will happen. Testimonials are also important. College students will identify with other college students. If you reward your customers for endorsing your products, you will see an increase in endorsements and great word of mouth. You need to promote these endorsements as well. If you get a positive post, tweet or email don’t forget to say thank you.
It’s also evident that students like coupons and mobile should be an important piece of your coupon strategy. Mobile messaging can give you a competitive advantage because students are so highly reliant on their mobile devices.
It’s also time to investigate both beacon technology and mobile payment
options. Beacons and the “Internet of Things” will have a growing importance this holiday season. The more you know now, will ensure you are not
playing catch-up later. For more information on leveraging existing
audiences, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: eMarketer; Fluent

Are College Students Cutting Back

College students hold a great deal of spending power. But, some are facing increasing financial pressures. Now that classes are back in session, a new report is out that details the changing spending behaviors of today’s college students.

• 44% of students say they are cutting back on school expenses because they already have key items
• 33% say they are spending more on discretionary items like concert tickets and fun items
• 30% are going to more on certain key items that they need
• 28% are going to cut costs on school expenses even if they need certain key items
• 25% are going to spend less on discretionary items

What Does This Mean To You?

Focus on promoting value. College students buy a wide variety of items – from pizza to laptops. To ensure that they keep your business top of mind, you need to stay relevant. While price is always a concern, promote the savings or the experience you items can deliver.
Yes, a new laptop can carve a large piece from a student’s budget – but how much time is wasted trying to limp through on an old machine that is on life support. Or worse, what happens if it gives up the ghost in the middle of something important.
For more discretionary items, focus on the fun and the shared experience that you can provide. Think of your own college experience, are your best memories based on typing term papers or the fun you had with friends. For more information on generating more from target audiences, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Source: eMarketer; Fluent

What are Mobile Shoppers Looking For?

In yesterday’s post, we delved into the growing importance of mobile and some of the mobile innovations that are on the horizon. Today, we’ll look at what mobile consumers are looking for and how you can help create deeper connections with them.

● Pricing and location information makes up roughly 60% of all mobile shopping research
● 49% of consumers say they use their mobile devices to find deals
● Over half of consumers are looking for businesses within 5 miles of their location
● 53% of mobile shoppers called the business they were interested in

What This Means To You

One of the big reasons why mobile has taken off with consumers is the convenience these devices offer. The ways they make saving money more convenient is a big driver of mobile adoption.
Yesterday, we mentioned beacons and app Push Notifications.
The combination of these two things can help bring consumers into your store and help them save money. The first step for you is to get consumers to accept push notifications from your app/apps. Consumers don’t mind push notifications, as long as the messaging is valuable.
Way to encourage push notification acceptance is can range from adding it your loyalty program, contesting and in-store POS discounting. The other component is an app. If you don’t have one, talk to your developed about a cost effective app solution. If you have an app, consult with them about adding push notifications and proximity marketing capabilities. For more information on creating more impactful connections with your customers, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com
Sources: xAd; Telemetrics

Why Consumers Abandon Their Online Shopping Carts

Recently, we posted information on consumer’s biggest pet peeves when it comes to online shopping. Some of these pet peeves are things that consumers can power through. Others can be a huge roadblock to online consumers completing the sale. New data has been released that gives more information on why consumers abandon their online shopping carts.

● Nearly 60% of consumers have abandoned their carts because shipping costs were higher than expected
● Approximately 55% were either not ready to purchase and wanted to compare prices or wanted to save the cart for purchase at a later time
● Half of consumers indicated they abandoned because the order did not meet the minimum requirement for free shipping
● Nearly 40% said that the shipping and handling costs were listed too late in the checkout process
● Almost 30% believed that shipping time was too long for the amount they had to pay or they didn’t want to create an account just to purchase something
● One in four said their preferred method of payment was not accepted by the retailer or they were going to check out but were distracted and forgot about it
● Over 20% thought that the checkout process was too confusing or that the shipping options did not meet the timeframe for when they needed the item
● One in five decided to buy the item in-store
● Other major reasons given were the lack of a guaranteed / estimated delivery date, users couldn’t remember their password or the return policy was unclear

What This Means To You

Think of all the time, effort and money that went into your site.
First you had to build it, then you had to promote it. You marketing tactics drove the traffic to your site and a consumer went through the process of shopping your brand and selecting merchandise – then all that time, effort and money disappears. The consumer abandons their cart.
There are a couple of major themes that strike through in why consumers do not completing the sale. Shipping costs, site design and brand processes are the big culprits.
Free shipping, as we’ve state many times before, is the offer that draws consumers to a certain site. It’s also the top reason why consumers choose one brand over another. If you cannot give customers free or discounted shipping, make sure your shipping policies are easily read and clear. When a consumer goes through the process of making a purchase only to get hit with shipping he or she finds exorbitant; it leaves a bad taste in their mouth and are unlikely to return.
When was the last time you tested your sites design with people unassociated with your brand – People who will give you an honest answer? If a consumer feels like your site is cumbersome not easy to navigate consumers will likely leave and go to a competitor. Adding things like a “steps meter” can help them feel a little easier with checkout.
We all know that data can be the one thing that gives you a competitive edge in the future but many consumers are leery of giving their contact information.
If a customer is interested in buying an item and they don’t complete the sale with you, do you think they are just not going to buy it all? No they are likely going to search for it or something similar from a competitor of yours. Bad design or high shipping could be delivering sales to your main competition. Make sure that your site is more intuitive than the guy across the street, check your shipping vs theirs as well. Consumers flocked to online shopping because of the convenience. If your checkout process gets in the way of that convenience, shoppers will likely click away. For more information on effective and efficient ways you can build traffic to your online presence, please contact:

Al Fiala
amfiala@gmail.com

Sources: USPS: comScore; etailing group; eMarketer