What US Mobile Users Want

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Keynote Services conducted a survey titled: What Users Want from Media, Finance, Travel & Shopping from Aug. 25-30, 2010. The quantitative study measured mobile user characteristics, preferences, satisfaction levels and other experiential factors across 4 key consumer categories: 1 -consumer products/shopping, 2 – financial services, 3 – media & entertainment, and 4 – travel. Keynote Services surveyed 1,200 consumers in the US, across a wide range of age groups (18-29; 30-49; 50-64; and 65+) and mobile device ownership; the survey responses were analyzed across gender, device and age.Suits SuitGiant offers mens suits, dress shirts, ties, Wedding Suits, tuxedos, accessories and more.
Survey’s key findings:
  • Accessing maps and directions is the No. 1 mobile activity (81%) followed by three media-related activities: social networking (76%) accessing local information (73%) and reading news (68%). The top mobile finance activity is reviewing bank account information (67%).
  • 66% of respondents cited that they prefer the mobile Web for accessing content compared to 34% who preferred downloadable apps.
  • 38% of respondents had not purchased anything in the consumer products & shopping category from their devices in the last 6 months.
  • Shrink-wrapped entertainment such as CDs, games and DVDs comprise the second largest mobile purchase category, accounting for 43% of those surveyed.
  • Males 30-49 years-old tend to be the most active content consumers and mobile purchasers; men outspend women, with 31% having spent $499 or more through their mobile device in the last 12 months, versus 23% of women who did so.
  • Men spend more time than women on financial and travel content, while more women (80%) engage with social media on their devices compared to men (70%).

The study also found media & entertainment to be the highest-penetrated mobile category, both by number of users and time spent, with only 3% of those surveyed saying they had not interacted with media content on a mobile device in the last six months. In contrast, consumer products & shopping was the least penetrated, with the fewest number of users citing that they have purchased consumer goods from their phones. Despite their differences, media & entertainment and consumer products & shopping drew the highest percentage of satisfied mobile users out of the four categories, with 89% and 85% respectively.Suits SuitGiant offers mens suits, dress shirts, ties, Wedding Suits, tuxedos, accessories and more.
Brad Rencher, vice president and general manager, Omniture Business Unit, Adobe was quoted saying: “Though mobile apps continue to be extremely popular, mobile users aren’t ignoring mobile websites. This and other findings make it clear that companies can significantly enhance their customers’ mobile experiences and better drive mobile e-commerce revenue.”

eBay Global Mobile Shopping Trends in 2010

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Based on its analysis of mobile sales across its top six mobile markets, eBay has announced the global mobile shopping trends of 2010, based on items sold and sales. According to Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile for eBay, mobile shopping has peaked on 2010, with eBay leading the way by becoming the go-to shopping destination.
More than 30 million downloads of eBay’s mobile apps worldwide were registered, with people buying everything from designer apparel to cars and trucks on their phones regularly, and purchases are being made through eBay mobile every second. In the U.S., the top 5 categories ranked by the number of items sold through eBay’s mobile apps for 2010 were:
  1. Clothing shoes & accessories
  2. Cell phones & PDAs
  3. Collectibles
  4. Jewelry & watches
  5. Toys & hobbies
Global Mobile Shopping Trends according to eBay:
  • High-End Holiday Spending
    During the holiday shopping season (Nov. 25 – Dec. 25), U.S. eBay mobile sales grew 134 percent over the same period last year, generating nearly $100 million in GMV; worldwide, mobile sales grew 166 percent generating $230 million in GMV. Designer handbags, diamond jewelry and Rolex watches topped this year’s most expensive holiday purchases.
  • Sports Shopping Spree
    Major sporting events drove fans to shop on eBay mobile to commemorate some of the most highly coveted competitions. Based on mobile sales, the sports memorabilia category peaked in Canada, during February’s XXI Olympic Winter Games held in Vancouver, B.C. The category also peaked in Germany during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ South Africa, where Germany placed third, in June and July, and in France during July’s Tour de France®.
  • Gaming Lovers
    Valentine’s Day has become a boon for the video game industry as World of Warcraft® and Final Fantasy® hosted special online gaming events. Video game sales through eBay’s mobile apps spiked 68 percent week-over-week for the week ending on Feb. 14.
  • Must-have Gadgets
    In the U.S., tech lovers flocked to eBay as the iPad made its debut on April 4, driving the consumer electronics category to its annual peak the day after Apple’s tablet device first arrived in retail stores. On June 24, the day the iPhone® 4 launched in the U.S., the cell phones & accessories category hit its annual peak as a flurry of new and pre-owned iPhones were listed on eBay.
  • Fashion Fanatics
    As eBay released its Fashion app for iPhone this summer, clothing & accessories was a consistently popular category on mobile. In Canada and France, clothing & accessories was a top category overall based on mobile sales; it was a top three category in Australia, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. During the busy shopping period between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Mobile Sunday (Dec. 12), the category ranked number one in the U.S., in both GMV and sold items.
Top U.S. mobile-generated sales overall for 2010:
1. Cars & trucks
2. Clothing & accessories
3. Auto parts
4. Sporting goods
5. Cell phones & accessories
Top three categories by sales for the year in each of eBay’s top six mobile commerce markets are:
  • Canada:
    Clothing & accessories, jewelry and cars & trucks
  • France:
    Clothing & accessories, jewelry and computers
  • Germany:
    Auto parts, cars & trucks and clothing & accessories
  • Australia:
    Cars & trucks, home improvement and clothing & accessories
  • United Kingdom:
    Cars & trucks, clothing & accessories and auto parts
  • United States: cars & trucks, clothing & accessories and auto parts

Why Mobile Shopping Could Be As Big As Online Shopping

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Although few consumers make purchases using their phones, smartphones are playing a critical role in purchasing decisions, according to a study released by ForeSee Results on Monday.

The study, which surveyed 10,000 visitors to top e-retailer sites, found that 11% of them made a purchase using their phones this holiday season, compared to only 2% at the same time last year.

Thirty percent of visitors, however, used their phones to compare product details, look up prices, or find store locations. In 2009, only 11% of consumers surveyed said they used their phones to do this kind of research. Shoppers who were highly satisfied with a retailer’s mobile experience were 30% more likely to buy from that retailer both online and offline.

Mobile’s role in retail today has many parallels to the Internet’s role in retail when online shopping was in its infancy. About three years after Amazon (1995) and eBay (1996) launched, estimated online sales totaled $6.1 billion — only 0.2% of total retail – according to a Gartner Survey quoted in a Time Magazine cover story that ran that year.

As the study suggests is the case with mobile users, many Internet users started making relationships with retailers online long before they purchased from them there. In 2000, a Pew Internet survey found that while 46% of surveyed Internet users had made a purchase online, 73% had used the Internet to research a product. Even so, forecasts in the early years of online shopping estimated as much as a 233% increase over two years.

The future looks similarly bright for mobile shopping. eBay reported that mobile shopping on its app increased 134% this holiday season, and Amazon is bringing in $1 billion annually from mobile sales. A report by ABI Research found that mobile online shopping in the United States rose from $396 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2009. The same survey predicted that mobile would bring in $119 billion by 2015.

That’s not to say that mobile commerce doesn’t face some significant obstacles in becoming mainstream. A 2009 survey put smartphone penetration at about 17% in the United States. That still leaves out a lot of potential customers. But so did Internet access before it became nearly ubiquitous.

“I question if it’ll ever be big,” one man told the Time Magazine article’s authors about online shopping in 1998.

As online retailers brought in more than $1 billion on last Cyber Monday alone, this comment sounds a bit silly today.

While smartphone penetration is still low, smartphone sales are soaring. Might mobile retailers one day have similarly smug feelings toward today’s critics of mobile commerce?

Tablets beat smartphones for mobile shopping: study

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A new study claims that tablet owners use their devices to browse and buy online more frequently than smartphone holders, giving hope to retailers looking for a mobile lease of life for catalogs.

Twenty-nine percent of tablets users conducted mobile shopping over the Internet versus 22 percent for smartphone owners, posting a 31 percent to 28 percent contrast even for monthly usage. Soon-to-launch iPad-focused ecommerce marketplace Coffee Table commissioned the study that was conducted by the e-tailing group, a Chicago-based market researcher.

“It’s always a question of will they buy via any new mechanisms. Your expectations and the convenience and ability of the device to render particularly catalogs and products should be a powerful selling tool for retailers,” said Lauren Freedman, president of the e-tailing group.

The study, titled “The Shopping Mindset of a Mobile Consumer,” was run in February. The respondents spent upwards of $250 online yearly and own either a smartphone or tablet.
Tablet remedy
In addition to simple browsing, the study showed a higher concentration of buyers in the tablet segment.
Sixty-eight percent of tablet owners bought online via the device, compared with 48 percent of smartphone owners.
One in four tablet owners made at least six purchases in the past six months contrasted with 16 percent on their smartphones, per the study. Thirty-nine percent made two to five purchases on their tablets versus 30 percent on smartphones.
Also, 88 percent of tablet owners said that their most recent shopping experiences via these devices were very to somewhat satisfactory in contrast to 73 percent of smartphone owners, according to the study.
When asked to rate the experience against one another, 69 percent of tablet owners said their most recent shopping experiences via these devices weresignificantly (39 percent) to somewhat better (30 percent) than shopping with their smartphones.
“Consumers want to and are taking advantage of mobile experiences,” Ms. Freedman said. “They are hungry and eager to find the right price whether they are in-store or online.
“Additionally, the tablet customer is a prime opportunity to reach a ripe audience who’s got the wallet to buy and enjoys the experience – always a win-win for retailers,” she said.
In-store, or out the door
Meanwhile, smartphones continue to play a key role in the mobile shopping process, as well as driving traffic to stores.
Take the store locator. As is done on the traditional Web, 44 percent of smartphone users frequently use store locators, while in consumers are aggressive over researching on mobile for sales and specials, competitive pricing at Amazon or at other retailers.
Also of keen interest are browsing of an online store on a smartphone and seeking popular product ratings and reviews, especially at the early shopping stage.
One of the biggest surprises that e-tailing group got when fielding the study was the range of categories already purchases on mobile, as well as the willingness to buy despite usability issues with smaller screens.
“Consumer experiences are not yet stellar, security is still a concern and user experience is sub-par, along with an inability to always access – remember AOL dialup?” Ms. Freedman said.
What exactly do consumers want from mobile shopping?
“Streamlined, intuitive shopping experience from favored retailers at sharp prices – or they’ll be using their phones to go elsewhere,” Ms. Freedman said.