Big Potential for In-Store Mobile Marketing

JUNE 30, 2010

Sophisticated apps can make the store experience better than ever

Mobile shopping from in-store is just beginning to achieve its promise. Most shoppers are not yet accustomed to turning on and logging in to a retailer’s mobile app when they enter one of its stores.
Likewise, retailers are just starting to launch mobile commerce offerings, let alone offer capabilities targeted to in-store shoppers.
“Consumers have already demonstrated that they like to research products online before buying them in a store,” said Jeffrey Grau, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “Mobile Shopping from In-Store: A Potential Game-Changer.” “Until now, researching online and buying in a store have been sequential activities that take place hours, days or even weeks apart. But customers who bring their Web-enabled mobile phones with them into a store can do online research at the point of a purchase decision.”
Multichannel Merchant found in February 2010 that nearly four in five multichannel retailers in the US were not yet using any m-commerce features.

But new mobile websites and apps are launching every week, and retailers that don’t get on board may soon find themselves acting as a showroom for online pure plays like Amazon or for mobile price comparison apps.
Web research is critical to the overall shopping experience in the US. Forrester Research estimated that nearly half of all US retail spending will be influenced by online research this year, and that percentage is set to only increase.

As more in-store shoppers—especially millennials, who are used to turning to their mobile phone to stay connected anytime, anywhere—become mobile web users, demand for an in-store experience that takes advantage of web capabilities will only grow.
“In developing a mobile commerce program, a retailer should look ahead as well as think broadly,” said Mr. Grau.
“Looking ahead means not getting locked into a platform with a set of technical capabilities that cannot expand to meet new requirements,” he explained. “Thinking broadly involves fitting mobile commerce into a multichannel strategy where channels support one another so that the total effect is greater than the sum of the parts.”

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The full report, “Mobile Shopping from In-Store: A Potential Game-Changer,” also answers these key questions:

• How far along is adoption of mobile shopping from in-store?
• How will smartphones enhance consumers’ in-store shopping experience?
• What capabilities will mobile phones give in-store shoppers?
• Which retailers and third-party developers have taken the lead in rolling out mobile shopping offerings for in-store customers?