Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The role of mobile in shopping related research.


At the Path To Purchase Institute’s annual Shopper Marketing Expo, Alison Chaltas of GFK shopper and retail strategy, shared a global study that revealed the future of shopping is “getting extreme.”

Chaltas said that a hard economy – with one in three barely able to meet expenses and only 15% living comfortably – is fueling the emergence of a new shopper profile. This “extreme shopper” is wired; 68% research purchases on the internet and buy in store.

While “extreme shopper” was new, the concept of ROBO (research online buy offline) has been around for a while, but the percentage was interestingly high. However, what caught my attention was the way in which the shopper was doing the research and the emergence of mobile as the research tool.

The study found one quarter are using their phone to help shop, and that they’re seeing a broadening of categories this applies to, not just consumer electronics and clothes, but also food and beverages, as well as health and beauty.

They also found a multi-dimensional aspect to mobile shopping: value seeking is the goal of 89%, 51% are using mobile to connect to social media as a shopping tool, 24% are using it transactionally, and 82% informationally.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Seamless shopper experience is a must.

According to Google, 62% of shoppers used a smartphone in a store  (in the US) to help with shopping research last year, indicating that retailers should aim to inform in-store purchase decisions with mobile apps or sites that are optimized for mobile.

Google says that, as far as online goes, video is becoming increasingly powerful in many categories, as far as discovery.

Mobile, is another big opportunity, not just because you can drive conversions, but so many people come to retailers through mobile. The key is not to have a disconnection between your mobile experience and your desktop web experience as a retailer. Consumers should get a familiar and seamless experience no matter what screen they’re on.

Price has historically been a major driver of purchases online, but having faith in the experience is becoming really important as well.

And for good reason – Google found that 13% of shoppers plan to watch online videos to help with shopping research, and 48% will use tablets to read product reviews before purchasing.