Based on different studies, it is estimated that between 25 percent and 50 percent of people will read this post on a mobile device. Consumers and business professionals have adapted to mobile apps, devices and web sites at a rapid rate, using ‘all things mobile’ to stay connected, find information or just have fun. In a new study from Syniverse, we see just how important mobile has become for businesses.
One of the key findings is that most businesses aren’t handling mobile developments in-house. According to Synivere’s report, a full 77 percent of those surveyed are turning to outside vendors for their expertise on how to succeed in the mobile market.
Furthermore, it this survey, it is found that 92 percent of the business people surveyed believe mobile is ‘important or very important’ to their business and 84 percent ‘plan to incorporate’ mobile into upcoming marketing plans. Additionally, 88 percent say they have a ‘defined’ mobile strategy for future marketing efforts.
Of those who currently have a strategy, around half state that they are in the process of implementing it. However, only 24 percent say that their strategy has been implemented at this point and only about 10 percent say they are currently developing a mobile strategy
Businesses were quick to understand that mobile apps and web sites allow them to prosper in their local markets. Going local deepens the engagement levels of consumers. Syniverse’s data shows that 73 percent of businesses surveyed have included a location-based strategy, which allows them to use geographic profiling to better interact with shoppers.
Mobile devices are rapidly becoming more and more important to the in-store shopping experience. Based on new data from GfK, about a third of people are now using mobile devices to conduct in-store research of products while they are shopping and a surprising 20 percent of those questioned have made a purchase with their mobile device while they were in a retail store.
According to the report, those shopping for consumer electronics and toys are the most likely to use mobile devices while shopping. Additionally data shows that 70 percent of US shoppers are using both online and offline info to make decisions on purchases. 64 percent of those of shoppers choose to go in-store to see and feel the product and 63 percent stated they buy in-store to get the product home sooner.
“The future of shopping is here,” says Kimber Johnson, Managing Director of Vanity Point. “Retailers need accept and embrace their shoppers’ habits and preferences or they will be left behind.”
Mobile Applications and Mobile Web Sites should be part of a unified brand that cuts across all platforms and delivers the information that this new shopper is looking for. Businesses can no longer feel content to sever customers while they are in the store but must cater to them on-line, in the store and everywhere in between.
According to a new study from Eptica, mobile web site users demand the same standard of website usability on their devices that they experience using the traditional web. But unlike with the traditional web, many companies are not meeting user expectations. Since more and more consumers are accessing websites via their mobile devices, the usability of mobile web sites is more important than ever and right now many users are disappointed. A survey of 1,000 adults by Eptica found that over 50 percent said over half of the websites they visited on their mobile devices were not optimized for the mobile web.
Eptica goes on to detail the issues that plague consumers’ mobile web experiences: the leading issue was the lack of functionality both on the mobile web and within mobile apps (36 percent), while 34 percent mentioned slow loading speeds and 34 percent were frustrated by websites that were not optimized for smaller mobile screens.
Clearly there are great opportunities that exist for savvy companies that offer users what they are looking for on their mobile devices. Mobile optimized web sites that offer solid fundamentals of usability and load rapidly will keep consumers coming back. Mobile apps must offer users a solid user experience or will be deleted soon in favor of other apps that offer the experience users are looking for.
“With the rapid growth of the mobile arena, there is a huge opportunity for companies that choose to give customers what they are looking for,” says Kimber Johnson, Managing Director of Vanity Point “It isn’t enough just to have a mobile offering. The medium is starting to mature and customers are looking for quality experiences. By not giving your customers the experience they are expecting you are just letting them know you don’t understand mobile and are sending them to someone who does.”
It is more and more important that marketers understand mobile and how to succeed and companies that that do understand mobile are starting to separate themselves from those that do not.