According to the latest Hipcricket survey, this channel will show its true value before the end of the year.
Although the holiday shopping season has become synonymous with crowded malls and waiting in tremendous lineups once the perfect items have been found, mobile commerce is predicted to begin a sizeable change in this tradition, this year.
The prediction is that many more shoppers will be looking to their smartphones and tablets to skip the lines.
Moreover, shoppers will also be using mobile commerce to be able to hunt for the products that they want and find the best prices so that they can buy them in store, reducing the amount of time that they will actually spend going from one brick and mortar store, so that they can beeline to exactly what they want. Not only will they be purchasing gifts over smartphones and tablets but they will be finding them and tracking them down before buying them in person.
This is according to the latest mobile commerce data that has been released by Hipcricket.
The Hipcricket study has shown that 53 percent of the participants in its holiday shopping study intend to spend a larger amount over mobile commerce in 2013 than they did at the same time in 2012.
The report stated that “Hipcricket survey data shows that 42% of respondents will shop more on mobile devices this holiday season compared to 2012. This means that the total number of mobile purchases should increase significantly, as the survey also found that in the past six months, close to 59% of smartphones users made at least one purchase on their device.”
It also went on to say that mobile commerce will contribute to the overall sales made in over different channels from traditional online shopping (over desktops or laptops) and in store. They said that there will be two ways that smartphone and tablets will be contributing, and that is a driver of sales, as people shop over the devices themselves, and as a research tool that will send people directly into the stores or to their traditional computers where they will complete the transaction based on what they found on the smaller screens.
The latest report from the firm has shown that while shopping over smartphones and tablets, expectations are higher.
The “UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper Study: A Customer Experience Study” results have just been released by comScore and have revealed a number of online and mobile commerce insights that may be helpful to retailers and other organizations hoping to sell and market over the internet.
Among the central insights included elements of the overall experience that help to drive brand preference.
The mobile commerce study also examined word of mouth recommendations and customer loyalty drivers. What it determined, was that people who shop online are becoming increasingly demanding. Their expectations from retailers are higher than they have ever been.
There are a number of specific things that mobile commerce shoppers want from their experiences.
Among them is that mobile commerce shoppers want to be able to obtain a great deal more information right from the very beginning of their online shopping experience, as well as additional options throughout the checkout and delivery processes, and more channels in which to interact with their preferred brands and retailers.
The comScore report also pointed out that mobile commerce using consumers also want a seamless process for returns, as well as free shipping on their orders, and mobile and social access. The study showed that consumers identified those issues as among the most important to meeting their expectations and their needs.
According to the UPS Canada vice president of customer solutions, Nicolas Dorget, “This study highlights the critical three Cs of today’s retail online customer experience – channels, choices and convenience.” He went on to say that “Retailers can win shoppers over by providing a consistent and positive omnichannel experience. From mobile apps to social media platforms, today’s consumers value – and even expect – services to work together across the entire shopping continuum from pre-purchase to post-purchase.”
Retailers and brands can use the insight from this mobile commerce report to be able to fine tune their marketing and their shopping experiences in order to ensure that they appeal to their customers and stand out from what the competition has to offer.