According to a Forsee Results survey, a staggering 1/3 of consumers used their phones as a supplement to their in store shopping process. That means that 29% of the shoppers actually pulled their phone while in a store to learn more about a product instead of consulting a sales associate. This shows a significant gap that retailers could fill.

According to the survey, these mobile-enabled shoppers did not head right for the retailer’s website while in the store.

The survey also found that these mobile-enabled shoppers acted almost exactly like non-mobile-enabled shoppers—except that mobile shoppers are a little more likely to buy the product offline. This is understandable, as it wouldn’t make sense to do in store research, drive home to use a home computer for more research and drive back to the store.

This there is definitely evidence of a gap to be filled here. For example, an offline retailer could work on an app for their customers to post and read product reviews and compare prices, then advertise the app in their store, right alongside the products that people will surely be comparing.

Forsee Results had this to say:

“Going forward, retailers should encourage smart phone users to adopt retailer-generated mobile apps, not only to ask about a product or send a picture of a product to a friend, but to compare online prices, remember specs of something they were researching online, and identify the proper model or version of a wish list item.”

Mobile Internet and Mobile Applications have not been widely adopted yet, but will be a major force in the coming years.

Will your business be ready?

Posted by Paul under All Content & Internet Marketing & Mobile Marketing | No Comments »