BoxStuff

Demand is there for mobile shopping

Here’s a couple of interesting points that go to show consumers here in the UK really are ready and willing to embrace the mobile shopping experience:

- ASOS, a fashion retailer, generated over £1m in a single month just two months after the launch of their mobile site.

- Both John Lewis and M&S have reported selling items in excess of £3,000 via mobile.

I’m not sure how much more proof UK retailers need that the demand is there but so many still do not have decent, usable, mobile solutions on offer. Getting something built and launched doesn’t necessarily have to be a huge, time intensive project…mobile web applications, essentially mobile optimised web sites, can quite often do the job just as well as native applications.

The New Rules of Mobile Marketing

Here’s an article I found on Adotas written by Bryce Marshall. All of his rules ring true but it was particularly the first one that really struck a chord with me:

Old rule: Taking a “wait and see” approach to mobile, or employing an under-funded “toe-dipping” methodology.

New rule: The consumer is mobile. This is a reality. In 12 to 18 months, the mobile landscape will be forever changed. The “wait and see” and “toe-dip” approaches will land your brand squarely in the consumers’ rear-view mirror. At minimum, a brand’s mobile strategy and budgets should be aligned to create mobile-friendly experiences across key digital touch points and critical business services.

Mobile Internet Usage & Trends

Well Econsultancy has published their latest statistics on mobile internet usage and trends from both here in the UK and Europe. I’ve picked out a few of the interesting ones:

• 42% of UK shoppers have used their mobile phones while shopping offline, while 16% used it to compare prices with other stores.
  
• 55% of small businesses have not checked the appearance of their own website on a mobile phone, despite the fact that 64% of small business owners regularly use the mobile web.
  
• 41% of SMEs said their website didn’t look as good on a mobile, while 36% said the functionality had been affected.
  
• Just 7% have already optimised their sites for mobile, but 65% had no plans for a mobile version.
  
• According to a study of 1,500 people in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain shoppers who use their mobile in some part of the research and purchase process spend 15% to 30% more than those who use just one channel.
  
• UK users prefer to access the mobile internet using a browser rather than an ‘app’ (70% versus 55%) according to a study by Orange.
  
• Mobile internet sales could double in the next 3 years. By 2013 mobile internet sales could reach as much as £275m, 4% of online retail spending, up from £123m currently.