This is Valentine’s Week and Cupid has now clearly gone mobile, with amorous shoppers clamoring to purchase goods for their loved ones, via their mobile devices. Mobile commerce, which seemed to have hit an all-time high during Christmas the previous year, has now seen an even steeper graph on Valentine’s Day this year.
mCommerce, which had emerged as a slow trend in 2011, has now made its mark like never before.
Valentine’s Day sales results have showed up that nearly 15 percent of the total visitor traffic has come from mobile device users; generating 10 percent of the actual revenue from product sales. This trend obviously indicates that mobile shopping and mobile commerce are very much here to stay and may very well define the future of shopping, purchase and payment.
Why Mobile Shopping is Becoming Popular
Mobile shoppers have the convenience of logging on at their own convenience, while on the move. Shoppers, especially those that would like to purchase intimate apparel and similar other products, have the advantage of complete privacy while browsing their preferred Websites. They can access these products from any place, at any time they wish. What is more, many of these Websites offer the customer the choice of making a mobile payment, which further facilitates matters for the shopper.
It is expected that, in the near future, users will eventually prefer to shop and also make a payment via their phones and tablets.
The current trend also indicates one other aspect – that shoppers would make mobile purchases on a regular basis, without requiring a particular occasion to shop for.
Apple and Android at War; yet Again
While there is love and Cupid on one side, there is the ever-raging war between Apple and Android. It has been seen in the last few months that most of the mobile shoppers are either Android or iOS smartphone or tablet users.
Windows Phone 8 is already entering the market in a big way and several other new OS’ such as Ubuntu, the Firefox OS and so on, are awaiting their turn as well. It would be interesting to watch where all these emerging trends would lead to, and finally culminate in, this year.
Mobile Marketing and mCommerce
The sudden trend of mobile shopping indicates one other aspect – the fact that it is now the best possible time for mobile marketing. Mobile marketers can take advantage of this time to team with companies and carriers to monitor user behavior and offer hard-to-resist location-based deals to users. Teaming those offers with easy options for payment as well, would enable them to achieve quick conversions, translating into higher sales and profits.
It also indicates that companies of all shapes and sizes; belonging to all types of industries; must necessarily work at creating a mobile presence, creating mobile-friendly versions of their Websites, also participating in the mobile social milieu, in order to reach the maximum possible number of users.
To Sum it Up….
Mobile shopping and payment are undoubtedly here to stay and would practically define the behavior of shoppers in the days to come. Product manufacturers, companies, marketers and mobile carriers hence need to take this latest consumer trend into consideration and work together in order to provide the best possible shopping experience to the mobile user; creating a win-win situation for all concerned; thereby facilitating far quicker sales and greater profits.