ISO Practices Committee Insight: Understanding & Attracting the Mobile Consumer

Jenn Reichenbacher
September 3, 2013 –  If you haven’t heard, tablets are the fastest growing technology in history with 65 percent year-over-year worldwide growth from 2012 to 2013. With more than 52 million tablet owners and another 137.5 million smartphone owners in the U.S. alone, understanding and attracting the mobile customer is becoming more and more important.

While some remain static in fear of the change brought about because of technology, successful merchants and solution providers will be those that understand the opportunity and design and deploy strategies that capitalize on new technology while driving incremental revenues at the same time. Smartphones and tablets enable 24/7/365 connectivity with prospects and customers, which means more opportunity to sell your products and services, add incremental touch points, and new means of delivering offers, discounts and loyalty rewards. Whether you’re a small business owner or providing solutions to small businesses, here are three basic tips you can use to attract the mobile consumer.

Have a Mobile Optimized Site

It’s 2013, so if you own a retail business and don’t have a website to leverage e-commerce, then that is one major – and I mean major – opportunity as e-commerce retail activity continues to grow. A recent Accenture survey found that 43 percent of all U.S. consumers plan to shop more online in the future.

For merchants and business owners with established sites, the biggest opportunity lies with mobile optimization. It seems like a given, doesn’t it. But, according to a recent survey from TheFind, 40 percent of consumers who don’t use their tablets for shopping say it’s because the available sites and applications (apps) just aren’t up to par. And, 49 percent note that a lack of optimization was their biggest complaint. The same survey shows that, of those surveyed, 87 percent are using tablets to browse and 71 percent are making purchases on their tablets from time to time. Consumers want to shop on their mobile devices, but retailers are not making it easy. Investment equals return in the form of increased sales and a better overall shopping experience, so being mobile and having your presence optimized is a critical must.

Welcome Showrooming

Yes, that’s right – welcome showrooming in your brick-and-mortar store. According to L2, 58 percent of smartphone owners regularly visit a retailer with the intention of testing or trying on products before they purchase them online. There’s really no fighting it, even if some retailers have tried. Showrooming allows you to embrace in-store mobile use. QR codes are one great way to do this. Place QR codes next to a product for customers to scan and obtain additional information, or they could scan the code and be directed to your e-commerce site to see additional options or purchase online and have the item shipped directly to their home. The options are endless, but showrooming cannot be ignored.

Accept Mobile Payments

While mobile payment adoption is still on the upswing – and at the early stages – those businesses that get a jump start with mobile payment acceptance will not only benefit by being able to take a payment via QR, NFC or contactless EMV, they’ll be positioned to leverage the incremental value of mobile payments – gift, loyalty, and rewards. Consumers always love an early adopter, even if you’re ahead of them, so merchants that can add mobile acceptance and begin to integrate commerce functionality are sure to reap benefits as mobile payment continues to gain momentum in the marketplace.

Whether it be showrooming, mobile shopping (browsing or buying from a smartphone or tablet) or mobile payments, those business owners that act now in terms of developing and deploying mobile strategies will be those that win in the long term. Don’t wait, act now!

[spacer height=3] [divide] [spacer height=3] Jenn Reichenbacher is Director of Communications of Merchant Warehouse and a member of the ETA ISO Practices Committee

The views expressed in the posts and comments of this blog do not necessarily reflect those of ETA.