How Are Retailers Using Mobile in the Changing Path to Purchase?

Evolution of the customer…

The mobile era is upon us. According to the findings of the Pew Research Internet Project, 90% of American adults now own a cell phone, with almost 60% laying claim to a smartphone. This increased usage of mobile technology has resulted in a change in the path to purchase, with one-third of online shopping time now taking place on mobile devices. As a result of this diversified omni-channel approach, retailers are clamoring to capitalize on what is set to be one of the key digital trends in 2014, but how exactly do they achieve this?

Local Search

The obvious answer lies in local searches. Consumers tend to act quickly after conducting a local search on their smartphone, with 50 percent visiting a physical store, often to complete the purchase, within 24 hours. Since local search results place highly in the “SERPS,” or search-engine result pages, site optimization via responsive design or the introduction of a dedicated mobile site is key (personally favoring the mobile specific site). National companies can navigate the need to appear local by setting up different mobile shopping pages for each location or through geo-targeting and retailers can now utilize all sorts of apps (foursquare, maps, waze etc.) as well as local PLA’s (product listing ads) to drive traffic in-store.

Retail Apps

Retail smartphone apps are something of a mixed bag. According to a report from Xtreme Labs, some 30% of major retailers have yet to jump on board with an app on either the Apple or Android platform. Those retailers who have — and have used the available technology successfully — include CVS, Walmart, Nordstroms, Sephora, Amazon among a few others. The best mobile retail apps are easy to use, engaging and provide relevant value and content that’s consistently grabbing your attention. Bob Moul, writing for Retail TouchPoints, points to the need for brands to re-invent the retail app for in-store success. The retail climate is changing fast and shopping behavior is evolving, moving fast is imperative to continuing to capture and be relevant in the eyes of the consumer.

Mobile Advertising

Online banner advertising has a fairly poor reputation; Internet users often suffer from self-induced blindness at the mere sight of them. Business 2 Community calls this phenomenon “banner blindness” and implies that mobile users do not view them in the same way. Approaches such as SMS marketing, pull marketing and mobile surveys support mobile-banner advertising as well as apps, you can be relevant with display as long as it helps tell your brand story or your “hero’s cycle” and is continually relevant for the consumer. One exciting new technology is beacons, which can be used in conjunction with an app in any retail store to push notifications to consumers and track behavior, though it’s early on for this technology, it could help shape the new path to purchase.

Big Data

There is much debate about what big data actually is, but even without a universally agreed definition, some retailers have grasped the concept sufficiently enough to turn consumers into big spenders. Shopping Pal points to examples where stores use ISP addresses, bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology to push relevant ads. Brand loyalty, although still fairly strong, is on the decline, so it makes sense for retailers to use the advances in digital-marketing capabilities to treat returning customers like VIPs. Using this data to pull real insights is also where you are going to be able to leverage it’s greatest ability, to see how many touch points during the buyers journey you need to make a sale, what the final conversion point should look like and where and how the story should take place based upon where the buyer is in their buying cycle.

Although research indicates that mobile users turn to their device for research reasons rather than to complete a purchase, there is a strong argument that compels retailers to push forward with their mobile retail strategies. Put simply, it’s called progress. After all, with the advent of 3-D smartphones that can shop for you, imagine where we will be in just 5 years from today.