Embrace Mobile Marketing, Retailers Urged
This week The Age ran this interesting article by Clare Kermond, outlining the massive changes in online shopping . . . featuring the massive increase in use of smartphones to shop online
RETAILERS are being urged to have mobile-friendly marketing strategies as new research shows the rate of conversion from making an inquiry to buying something is many times higher via mobiles.
Google’s head of retail for Australia and New Zealand, Ross McDonald, said the number of queries about retailers made via mobile devices had jumped 220 per cent year on year, and was now about 25 per cent of all queries.
And the conversion rate from inquiry to sale was much higher when people used mobile devices; for example, 50 per cent of people who inquired about a hotel via a mobile device went on to make a booking within a couple of days, compared with 20 per cent for those online via a computer.
Mr McDonald said that with Christmas so close it was crucial for retailers to have at least the basic information such as opening hours and store locations available in a mobile-friendly format.
Both Myer and Bunnings launched mobile-friendly websites last year, with Myer’s general manager of marketing and brand development, Megan Foster, saying the retail giant was ”extremely happy with the response so far”. Myer’s mobile site includes store locations, trading hours, sales and promotions.
Mr McDonald also said marketers needed to understand the growing role of online across all devices, with the amount of media consumption online having risen from 25 per cent in 2007 to about 42 per cent now. He said a new buzzword for marketers in the US was ”SoLoMo” – meaning social media, local networks and mobile, with marketers recognising the need to develop strategies that catered for each of these.
And he said that for some brands, social media had made huge improvements to the level of customer service.
Using the example of US chain Best Buy, which posts customer inquiries on an online forum where staff from across the store can respond, Mr McDonald said online offered great potential to engage with customers.
Nick Spooner, chief executive of multi-channel marketing company Salmat Digital, said he had also seen the rapid rise of mobiles and online.