A new study by research consultancy Latitude offers insights into consumers’ mindsets, motivations, and desires around mobile shopping. More than 900 smartphone-enabled consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom participated in the Latitude study, and 63% of them claimed that they expect they’ll do more mobile shopping in the future.
Today, Latitude found that 51% of people feel very comfortable making purchases from their mobile devices, while 39% feel somewhat comfortable doing so. Furthermore, 80% would be interested in a mobile wallet, and 61% have a better perception of brands when those brands offer good mobile experiences.
Mobile Shopping Activities Vary by Device
Interestingly, smartphone-enabled consumers’ shopping-related activities vary depending on the device they’re using at a given moment in time. According to the study results, the following top three activities were reported for smartphone, laptop, and tablet users:
Top Mobile Shopping Activities for Smartphone Users:
- Locate a store = 72%
- Look up/compare pricing = 66%
- Look up product information = 58%
Top Mobile Shopping Activities Laptop Users:
- Check out = 72%
- Look up product information = 66%
- Look for coupons/promotions = 65%
Top Mobile Shopping Activities Tablet Users:
- Look up product information = 66%
- Look up/compare pricing = 61%
- Check user ratings/reviews = 57%
This information can help marketers create more relevant and useful brand promotions targeted to device users and the actions they’re comfortable taking. Participants in the Latitude study offered a variety of “future requests” for mobile shopping within physical retail stores, which you can see in detail in the image below.
Click the image to view it at full-size at the source.
Reasons People Shop with Mobile Devices
The reasons why consumers shop using mobile devices are also important to marketers. Understanding why consumers choose mobile shopping can help marketers craft more compelling messages that support consumers’ reasons for shopping using their mobile devices. The top reasons smartphone-enable consumers provided for shopping with their mobile devices are:
- Saves time = 73%
- Can find the best deals = 69%
- Can do it on the go = 69%
- Can do it while multitasking = 63%
- Don’t have time to wait in line = 55%
More people cite saving time rather than saving money as the primary reason they shop using mobile devices. This held true for all study participant income-levels. Again, marketers might want to create more messages related to saving time when targeting the mobile shopping audience.
What Mobile Consumers Want from Virtual Retail
When it comes to mobile shopping, consumers know what they want from brands and retailers. The image below from Latitude’s report explains some of the future requests that study participants want from mobile virtual retail.
Click the image to view it at full-size at the source.
Not sure what your customers want your brand to deliver to them through their mobile devices? They’re telling you in research studies like this. You just need to listen and create the brand experiences, promotions, and messages that they’re asking for. You can review the full Latitude report and get all the findings here: Latitude Next Gen Retail Study.
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
