This might be a surprise for people who don’t use many smart devices but people are using their smartphones more than they use their laptops or PC’s. A survey was conducted in United States by Local Search Association (LSA) and Thrive Analytics with 2,147 samples. LSA stated that active mobile users shop excessively and about 60% of adults conduct their product research on their smartphones.
LSA also stated that about 70% of about 18 trillion dollars US GDP comes from consumer spending which occurs within 20 miles of their home or work. In 2014, $300 million of that is e-commerce (a little behind offline shopping). LSA said, “40% of consumers use desktop PC or laptop when looking for local information online, a nine percent decrease from 2014.”
Mobile fanatics or in other words, active users are a new and growing consumer sector. Active users are constantly shopping and seeking products whether they’re at home, work or a hockey game. Smartphones or any other portable devices make it extremely easy to access websites such as Amazon, eBay, or any business related website that uses e-commerce.
LSA states that they need to not only understand why active users need to shop but what and what to purchase. The underlying question they need to answer is; what is relevant to mobile fanatics? LSA found that PC’s and laptops are and will be crucial for e-commerce and the mobile era has not reached the tipping point; however, they are making major changes in how and what people use to search information about companies and consumer products.
The evidence suggests that mobile users are extremely dependent on their devices and this dependency only continues to grow whether they need to constantly text or shop, it has become a part of their lifestyle.
The LSA study discovered the following:
1- 52% of Smartphone users search for information either in their car or on the go
2- 90% of all users have at some point used their device while shopping; 54% of these users searched for deals while 51% used their devices to compare prices with other retailers
3- 45% of active users utilize the store apps to seek info on certain products or sales while they’re in the store
Consumers today tend to cycle online and offline information regarding companies, products or services from A to Z of the purchasing process. This is the era that marketers can flourish by simply knowing and deciding which content they can use to affect a consumer’s decision regarding the time they spend on mobile devices.
Major companies must realize that in order to succeed in today’s market; they will have to utilize online reputation management and marketing on mobile devices. Weber Shandwick stated, 83% of consumers admit online reviews play a pivotal role when it comes to making a purchase decision and 81% of consumers state online search results can affect their thoughts about a company. Retail firms need to focus on their reputation online in order to attract a potential customer in an extremely competitive online market.