Consumers Getting More Comfortable with Mobile Shopping

As you know, smartphone usage is on the rise, and that means more opportunities for businesses to sell to customers via their mobile devices. We often hear about how important mobile is to the marketing strategy and especially future strategies, but how much are consumers really into shopping from their phones?

Retrevo shared some findings with us, and concludes that consumers are increasingly warming up to the concept of shopping from their phones. Andrew Eisner, Retrevo's Director of Content says, "With the Mobile Internet becoming more available on everything from smartphones to tablet computers, we see an encouraging number of consumers researching and actually purchasing products with their mobile devices."

Not surprisingly, the mobile shopping is most popular with the young in pretty much every capacity, and the older the demographic, the less inclined they are to use mobile devices to shop.

The young also appear to be most likely to engage with mobile advertising, and even notice mobile ads at all. Furthermore, when asked about their experience when they used a mobile phone to shop, most said they searched for deals, found them, and got the best price, while nearly half also found that it made shopping easier and more fun. A much smaller percentage didn't think it was worth it and wouldn't try again.

Highlights from Retrevo's Findings:

- 59% of people said they found the shopping information they were looking for, when using a mobile phone.
- Only 8% of people said they did not intend to shop from their mobile phone
- Only 9% of people, over 35 years old, have responded to an ad on their mobile phone, compared to 20% of people under 35.
- 55% of people, ages 18 - 24, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
- 52% of people, ages 25 - 34, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
- 36% of people, ages 35, 44, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
- 17% of people, ages 45 and up, have used a mobile phone to aid in the shopping process.
- 17% of people, ages 18 - 24, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.
- 15% of people, ages 25 - 34, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.
- 10% of people, ages 35 - 44, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.
- 3% of people, ages 45 and above, have made a purchase using their mobile phone.

The research indicates that the future of online shopping via mobile devices is bright. Eventually, these younger users are going to become the older ones, and the future youngsters will probably find it hard to imagine a world where shopping from mobile devices wasn't the norm.

A fitting quote from Google CEO Eric Schmidt: "Today's generation doesn't call it a mobile phone; they call it a phone."

Do you shop from your mobile device? Do you purchase items from it? Comment here.

Good News for Google Buzz – Social and Email Top Mobile Priorities

An interesting study has been released by PR firm Ruder Finn, which finds that 91% of mobile phone users go online to socialize, compared to only 79% of traditional desktop users. Meanwhile, Americans are spending an average of 2.7 hours on the mobile Internet.

"Mobile phones have become the way people organize their lives—managing finances, connecting with friends, purchasing products—and this trend will only accelerate," said Kathy Bloomgarden, Ruder Finn co-CEO. "The mobile phone is becoming the most powerful online device, and the faster businesses can adapt their services to harness consumer mobile intent, the more rapidly they can capitalize on understanding their customers to drive growth."

The Mobile Intent Index asked respondents how frequently they use their mobile phones to go online for 295 reasons, and the results show that immediacy is the primary factor driving behavior.

"Mobile phone use goes beyond instant gratification," said Marty McGough, director, Ruder Finn Insights. "Our survey data shows that people use their mobile phones out of necessity for instant access to the Web whether it's to conduct business with the most recent information or advocate on the spot on issues of pressing concern and breaking news."

According to Ruder Finn's research, about three in five users download mobile apps at least once a month, while 36% of users download apps from social networking sites at least once a month.

"Mobile technology means that people no longer have to wait until they're in front of their computers to do their work," says the firm's Chief Innovation Officer Michael Schubert. "And people are taking advantage of that; using mobile devices to do their core work while using desktops to navigate longer format and higher bandwidth content and tools. This is resulting in huge changes – and opportunities – across industries, making mobile an essential channel in keeping businesses competitive."

The top social intents named by participants of Ruder Finn's survey were instant messaging (62%), forwarding e-mails (58%), content (40%), and photos (38%), posting comments on social networking sites (45%), and connecting to people on social networking sites (43%).

There is of course a new social player in the game with Google Buzz, which was announced yesterday. One of the primary focuses of the product appears to be on mobile, with three separate mobile Google Buzz-related announcements made by the company: the ability to use Buzz from Google.com on iPhone/Android, a brand new app, and a Maps update.

The jury is still out on just how successful Google Buzz will end up being, but Ruder Finn's findings appear to suggest that the product will meet several of the top objectives of mobile users. Buzz being present on the mobile version of Google.com, which Google says is the worlds' most popular mobile home page, could be a huge factor.


Have You Read This?

> Will Google Buzz Change the Social Media Game?

> Whose Got The Buzz: Yahoo or Google?

> Is Gmail Google's Real Social Network?

Good News for Google Buzz – Social and Email Top Mobile Priorities

An interesting study has been released by PR firm Ruder Finn, which finds that 91% of mobile phone users go online to socialize, compared to only 79% of traditional desktop users. Meanwhile, Americans are spending an average of 2.7 hours on the mobile Internet.

"Mobile phones have become the way people organize their lives—managing finances, connecting with friends, purchasing products—and this trend will only accelerate," said Kathy Bloomgarden, Ruder Finn co-CEO. "The mobile phone is becoming the most powerful online device, and the faster businesses can adapt their services to harness consumer mobile intent, the more rapidly they can capitalize on understanding their customers to drive growth."

The Mobile Intent Index asked respondents how frequently they use their mobile phones to go online for 295 reasons, and the results show that immediacy is the primary factor driving behavior.

"Mobile phone use goes beyond instant gratification," said Marty McGough, director, Ruder Finn Insights. "Our survey data shows that people use their mobile phones out of necessity for instant access to the Web whether it's to conduct business with the most recent information or advocate on the spot on issues of pressing concern and breaking news."

According to Ruder Finn's research, about three in five users download mobile apps at least once a month, while 36% of users download apps from social networking sites at least once a month.

"Mobile technology means that people no longer have to wait until they're in front of their computers to do their work," says the firm's Chief Innovation Officer Michael Schubert. "And people are taking advantage of that; using mobile devices to do their core work while using desktops to navigate longer format and higher bandwidth content and tools. This is resulting in huge changes – and opportunities – across industries, making mobile an essential channel in keeping businesses competitive."

The top social intents named by participants of Ruder Finn's survey were instant messaging (62%), forwarding e-mails (58%), content (40%), and photos (38%), posting comments on social networking sites (45%), and connecting to people on social networking sites (43%).

There is of course a new social player in the game with Google Buzz, which was announced yesterday. One of the primary focuses of the product appears to be on mobile, with three separate mobile Google Buzz-related announcements made by the company: the ability to use Buzz from Google.com on iPhone/Android, a brand new app, and a Maps update.

"The RF Mobile Intent Index shows that 91% of mobile users are more likely than traditional online users (70%) to go online to be part of a community and supports the theory that location based social connections are only growing," Scott Schneider, EVP and director of Ruder Finn Interactive tells WebProNews. "With the launch of Google Buzz and it's mobile focus, we will see an increase in the already high socialization activities of smart phone users. Combined with the fact that the  penetration of smart phone users is only growing, this points to a communication future dominated by mobile focused social networks."

The jury is still out on just how successful Google Buzz will end up being, but Ruder Finn's findings appear to suggest that the product will meet several of the top objectives of mobile users. Buzz being present on the mobile version of Google.com, which Google says is the worlds' most popular mobile home page, could be a huge factor.


Have You Read This?

> Will Google Buzz Change the Social Media Game?

> Whose Got The Buzz: Yahoo or Google?

> Is Gmail Google's Real Social Network?

More Marketing Dollars Shifting from Offline to Online

Econsultancy and Exact Target have released a report based on joint research, polling over 1,000 marketers about their brand reputation strategies. The research found that marketers are slashing their budgets for radio, TV, and print, while looking online to build their brand reputation. The firms say the research indicates there will be a 17% surge in digital marketing spending this year.

"The shift from offline to online is in full swing as marketers look to measure direct increases in top-line sales, site traffic and improve overall marketing return on investment," says Morgan Stewart, ExactTarget’s director of research and strategy and co-author of the report. "Interestingly, brand reputation is becoming a more significant driver of the migration to digital marketing, particularly when it comes to social media."

Over 70% of respondents to the survey say they are increasing budgets for off-site social media marketing through sites like Facebook and Twitter, while about 65% are planning on increasing their budget for on-site social media.

Additional findings: 

- 28% of marketers are shifting marketing budgets from traditional to digital channel

- Two-thirds of marketers are planning to increase investments in social media even though less than one-fifth can effectively measure ROI.

- 64% of companies plan to increase budgets in search engine optimization.

- 56% plan to increase budgets for mobile marketing.

- 54% plan to increase budgets for email marketing.
 
- 51% plan to increase budgets for paid search.
 
- 42% of marketers plan to keep budgets the same as 2009 and 13% plan to decrease their overall marketing budget.

- 41% of marketers plan to decrease spending on print and radio marketing in 2010.

"The research shows a healthy outlook for the digital marketing industry with the majority of responding companies increasing their budgets for most digital channels," says Linus Gregoriadis, research director at Econsultancy. "Social media marketing is the area where companies are most likely to be spending more money during 2010, but areas such as search engine marketing and email marketing will remain buoyant."

A summary of the report, titled More Money, More Channels: Marketing Budgets for 2010, can be found here.

Have You Read This?

> Businesses Benefit as Customers Share Current Locations

> Customer Connections Now Important for Google Results

> Facebook Most Popular Mobile Social Website

Next Page »