PCs… Laptops… Smartphones… and now Tablets…. The way consumers shop is continuing to change and grow. The newest and hottest way to shop, and do research while in-store, is through a smartphone or other mobile device. While many merchants have been slow to adopt mobile sites and applications, shopping trends have changed, creating real opportunities for aggressive business owners and operators.
Deloitte’s 2011 Holiday Survey found 42% of consumers now own smartphones. This allows them to check pricing or product status at stores while they are shopping. By offering a mobile solution, you are one step closer to keeping your customers happy and shopping, instead of leaving for other stores that are providing the mobile data that they are looking for via mobile applications or mobile sites.
But just how popular is mobile shopping or research while in-store? According to new data from White Horse, a massive 84% of smartphone owners use their devices while shopping to check prices, research products, read customer reviews or get coupon codes. Customers are also checking the availability of items in other stores. These consumers could be checking the availability or pricing of products in your store if you provide a mobile application or mobile site.
Currently, savvy marketers are focusing on delivering the right content to shoppers in alignment with existing shopping trends and are capitalizing on doing so. A mobile application that is built to allow consumers to check prices, research products, and read customer reviews gives your business a marketable advantage over competitors who fail to deliver the information that consumers are looking to find.
Yesterday traditional hardware manufacturer Samsung announced its new proprietary Bada mobile operating system. Samsung is rolling out three new smartphone models that will run the Bada operating system. According to Reuters, the move is an indication of Samsung’s desire to expand its market share “in the low-end segment” of smartphones while expanding its lineup’s heavy focus on Google’s Android software.
The new smartphones are scheduled to be available right about the time Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected to be released. These devices include the Wave 3, with a 4-inch AMOLED screen and 5 MP camera. Samsung is also releasing lower-end, more the cost-effective Wave M and Wave Y. “The Wave M,” Reuters reports, “will have Samsung’s first instant messaging tool chatON installed and entry-level Wave Y with 3.2-inch display.”
Samsung is the world’s second largest smartphone manufacturer as of the second quarter of 2011 and if this move is any indication, we are likely to see this market only getting hotter and hotter over time. Will the Bada operating system have any effect on the mobile application market? Only time will tell.
The worldwide smartphone market is growing at a near meteoric rate. Are you prepared or preparing to capitalize on this trend? IDC’s research finds that smartphone vendors will ship around 450 million units this year… that’s 49% more than in 2010.
This is four times faster than the overall mobile phone market. The Android operating system is still predicted to continue its rapid growth and be the top operating system, with an expected 39.5% of the market by the end of the year and 45% by 2015. Much of this growth is fueled by consumer desire to have the additional functionality offered by smartphones. This creates a massive opportunity for forward thinking individuals and businesses.
iPhone applications developers and Android application developers worldwide are booked for months in advance to meet the growing demand for application software for these systems. And its not hard to see why, consumer demand is high and these applications offer an all new way to engage consumers. Savvy business owners are looking to mobile application developers to help them turn outdated advertising campaigns into engaging applications that interact with consumers on a personal device that is carried with them most of the day.
Already businesses are finding campaigns run via creative and practical mobile applications are paying huge dividends. There are several keys to success with mobile applications and a quality, professional application developer can help you put together a map to success that will help you translate your brand into a powerful mobile application.