Mobile Shoppers

The entire digital marketing world is quickly converging on mobile as a favorite shopping partner. Thanks to the increasing purchases and usage of smartphones, approximately 50% of adults aged 18-64 in the U. S. are mobile shopping. With all of these technologically advanced phones in pockets and purses, the way people shop is changing. Mobile shopping is not one activity – Mobile-shopping behaviors include using one’s phone to facilitate any part of the shopping experience — from comparing products, evaluating prices, and selecting where to buy, to sharing product photos, tweeting price details, and actually completing the transaction.

The mobile shopping experience can also include activities post-purchase, such as returning or servicing a product. Arc Worldwide conducted a nationwide quantitative survey of 1,800 mobile-phone owners, followed by qualitative research using webcams, Flip video cameras, and shop-alongs as shoppers utilized their phones in the shopping experience. Two key findings cast a light on who is mobile shopping and how, and what it means for the future. Lights shall inherit the future -Mobile shoppers fall into two groups.

Heavy mobile shoppers comprise about 20% of all mobile shoppers and drive 80% of the activity volume. Light mobile shoppers comprise the rest. Heavies love their phones, using them to share photos, download music, and check the news. They also love any form of shopping, whether it be at home, on a computer, or in the store. It’s not surprising that they really enjoy the nexus — indexing 10 times higher than lights in mobile shopping. Heavy mobile shoppers know and use mobile as a specialized tool for shopping.

Light mobile shoppers have a much narrower outlook toward mobile with regard to shopping. They see it primarily as an inferior portable computer, and therefore primarily use it in the car and on the go. Sixty-two percent of light mobile shoppers told us it was just easier to go online from a computer vs. shopping on their phone. While heavies have driven the growth of mobile shopping thus far, our research indicates that future growth will come from a small group of lights with the greatest potential to become heavies. We call them high potential mobile shoppers.

They love their mobile phones and shopping in the way heavies do, but haven’t yet converted their shopping activities onto their phones. Smartphone shopping apps are helping consumers buy more online, and they’re getting people better deals on the street. Two new data points from online auctioneer eBay and price comparison app Scanbuy help drive that home, and more importantly, suggest where things are ultimately headed: Deal-hungry users are increasingly going to put pressure on retailers, both online and offline, to change prices in real time to satisfy these more savvy buyers.

Ex. EBay said Wednesday that global mobile sales brought in almost $2 billion in 2010, up from $600 million in 2009. In the U. S. , eBay mobile sales grew almost 175 percent, generating nearly $850 million in gross merchandise value in 2010. What this confirms is that consumers are wielding their smartphones as shopping tools, arming themselves with data that’s informing their choices. In some cases, it’s pushing people to buy online. In other cases, they’re searching for better deals nearby.

But as users get more access to pricing data wherever they are at all times, it’s going to force retailers to have to react more in real time with their pricing. If users can see there are deals to be found elsewhere, retailers are going to have learn how to respond quickly with counter offers. This is good news for consumers, who can leverage this data more for in-store discounts and bargaining. Flash an online price of a product at a Best Buy employee, and see if the price can be matched or beaten. It’s going to put more pressure on retailers to monitor these pricing schemes and devise quick strategies.

It’s not enough to just offer check-in coupons and offers; they’re going to have to be aware of the competing offers available to consumers as they hunt for bargains. 1. Extend online brand reputation to mobile with seller ratings – Having a great online reputation is essential to driving online conversions, per Google. With seller ratings on mobile, brands and retailers can extend their online reputation from desktop to mobile devices and leverage the power of the mobile platform to drive conversions on the Web. The seller ratings extension lets mobile searchers to see merchants who are highly recommended by other shoppers.

By showcasing relevant and useful rating information for a business, the extension can help differentiate that brand from its competition and guide potential customers to purchase from its site. In recent studies, campaigns with mobile seller ratings saw a 7. 5 percent increase in click through rates when compared to campaigns without this extension. Seller ratings are aggregated from merchant review sites all around the Web and the extension will only show when a merchant’s online store has a rating of four or more stars and at least 30 reviews. . Take customers directly to the desired conversion path with mobile ad site links – Ad site links enable direct navigation to specific pages of a Web site. Since navigating on the mobile Web can still be difficult, site links for mobile can be especially useful in taking customers directly to the desired conversion path on a site, per Google. For example, with site links brands can quickly guide customers to the best selling products on their site or to an online store locator.

Mobile users find this format particularly helpful and on average campaigns with mobile site links see a 30 percent increase in click through rates when compared to campaigns without site links. Right now a maximum of two site links can appear on mobile devices with ads displaying two links across one line or stacked vertically on two lines. One-line site links can show with the click-to-call phone extension and will display one link to the Web site alongside the brand’s phone number. One-line site links can also show with the seller ratings extension and will display the company’s online store rating as well as two links to its Web site.

The quality of a brand’s ad will determine which variation of mobile ad site links will show. Two-line site links typically show for higher quality ads. 3. Drive customers in-store with offer ads – Running an in-store promotion? Brands can get the word out and incentivize customers to visit their store by placing a coupon right into their AdWords ads. Mobile ads with offers enable advertisers to include special deals in their mobile search ads, allowing users to store coupons via email or SMS.

Ads also display the brand’s phone number or business location on a Google Map for Mobile so that customers have everything they need to go to the store, redeem the offer and make a purchase. 4. Click-to-call ads for easier contact – Ensure that customers can easily connect with customer service by including a business phone number in mobile search ads. Since users who make a call are showing interest in a brand’s product or service, they are more likely to make a purchase. With a call costing the same as a click to an ad, this is a very cost-effective ad format for driving quality leads and conversions for a business.