In a recent study by Tapjoy, they had found mobile commerce is expected to grow by over an astounding 300% by 2015. While many analysts are starting to focus on the upcoming shopping season where many shoppers will brave the crowds at malls and local stores preparing for the holidays, we are seeing big growth in the number number of shoppers who will turn to mobile applications and mobile web sites for holiday shopping this year – or at a minimum they will be engaging in a great deal of mobile research to assist with their shopping. According to the new study from Tapjoy, 1 in 5 apparel buyers currently uses a mobile app or web site at least daily to buy or participate in research.
Some additional findings by Tapjoy point to explosive growth in the mobile marketplace. A full 54% of Tapjoy’s customers shopped via mobile in the previous six months and 45M smartphone users looked into the shopping app category in June of 2012 with almost half of them using these mobile shopping applications. But beyond just the numbers of users, what is powerful is the frequency of use among them with an average user accessing mobile shopping apps 17 times per month. A very solid 64% of those Tapjoy polled said they are going to make mobile purchases at some point during this holiday season.
Looking at the usage patterns of users while utilizing mobile devices and applications, users are comparing prices 61 percent of the time and accessing promotions/coupons 51 percent of the time for the most active areas of usage. We also see shoppers reading reviews, scanning bar codes and taking pictures of products while shopping.
Mobile deals is a big area to keep an eye on, according to the Tapjoy report, mobile shoppers are smart shoppers and they are looking for deals. Most often they look for free shipping deals, but nearly half also look for coupons or promo deals. One item that is good to note if you are currently planning a mobile application for your business is that less than 10 percent of users view mobile product videos, so don’t worry about video content as it isn’t a key factor and it will can eat up bandwidth quickly.
If you utilize these research factors in helping to plan your mobile application it will help you key in on the areas that will be most productive for your business buy helping you match existing usage trends. Clearly given the explosive growth of mobile applications and mobile commerce, you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage if you are not yet taking advantage of this crucial medium of communication.
Ten years ago people used cell phones to make phone calls and send text messages and that was about it, but with the modern smart phone, usage indicates much different patterns of behavior on how this communications device is utilized.
Smartphone usage in many ways mirrors daily activities. Social networks and game playing are the two busiest components of daily mobile app interaction. comScore research shows that 37% of all U.S. mobile users accessed social networks via mobile applications on their phones in May of this year and that a full 34% of all U.S. mobile consumers played games. Both of these numbers are double digit increases over what we were seeing two years ago.
Nielsen states that the minutes spent per month on mobile apps more than doubled from March 2011 to March 2012. Most of the time-consuming mobile activities such as games and social networks are accessed through mobile apps. In contrast to this their study shows that time spent on the mobile web was basically flat in terms of growth. Nielsen found that users are spending more time using mobile apps than on the mobile web with 73 percent of the time last year spent on apps. Ericsson ConsumerLab has determined that 69 percent of smartphone owners use apps daily.
One area that really stands out and is literally exploding in the United States is mobile commerce. It is expected to be a $10 billion industry this year, up from $6 billion in 2010. Nielsen research points out that 89% of smartphone owners have used their phone while shopping in stores. Smartphone users use mobile applications in a variety of different ways when it comes to retail, they access digital coupons, engage in research and read reviews, and make mobile payments.
Setting up your business in a way to capitalize on boom in mobile commerce would clearly be a wise decision. Looking at the patterns of usage and plan your mobile applications to fulfill the usage patterns that are in place and you will clearly be positioning your business ahead of your competition that is ignoring these trends.
Potential customers regularly ask us whether native mobile applications are the right choice or if they should opt for developing mobile web sites. Often the amount they would need to invest in one vs the other is their prime consideration but we suggest that you look at the usage and demographic of your client base instead.
Mobile web sites are a rapidly growing way to take advantage of internet access which is fueled by improved speeds of wireless access and the the higher capabilities of modern smart phones. The purpose of a mobile web site is to provide fast information to customers on the go. If your user base will need to access data while on the go but not necessarily on a regular basis a mobile web site is a great choice. A perfect example of this would be for a automotive repair shop that customers may need to look up when their car breaks down out on the road.
IAB has found that a full 61% of customers who visit a website that isn’t mobile-friendly from their smart phone will leave the site to visit a competitor. When considering this single fact the cost of a mobile web site can seem trivial. Often its best to build a mobile web site for purposes like this and native mobile applications for purposes more in tune with the advantages they offer.
It’s important to see the big picture when it comes to smart phones and the mobile web. By 2013, trends suggest there will be more internet-connected mobile devices than people and mobile devices will provide access to over half of the world‘s internet users by 2015.
These trends clearly illustrate that investing in a mobile friendly web site now will pay off for years regardless of whether you have native mobile applications built or not. The best course of action is to develop parallel strategies for the mobile web and mobile applications that take advantage of each mediums strengths are unique characteristics.