Mobile Shoppers R Different

By Joe Skorupa
http://www.gartner.comThere is more to retailing in 2010 than social media and mobile commerce, but nothing has more buzz. Or hype.

What’s different this time is the buzz is coming from retailers who feel a sense of urgency to get ahead of a fast-moving trend.

As Gartner’s Jeff Roster points out in the RIS/Gartner 2010 Retail Tech Trends Study there are no rules or case studies or best practices in M-commerce right now that are “older than about six months.�

How retailers “respond today,� says Roster, “will set the stage and ultimately write the rules for the foreseeable future.�

One problem is there isn’t much hard data to go on, and nature hates a vacuum. I am frequently asked: What do mobile shoppers look like, act like and how are they different than other shoppers?

I recently discovered a study from the marketing agency Merkle where the following demographic data about mobile users was found:

• Men out number women with Internet-enabled mobile phones (53% to 47%), due to the fact that three times as many men have them for work
  
• 70% of those with mobile phones are in the 18 to 29 age group and use them for text messaging. But the number of texters decreases steadily with age.
• 44% of those with Internet enabled phones check their e-mail on their mobiles. In fact, they spend about a fifth of their e-mail time on their phones, and the peak age group is in their mid-30s.
• 26% of those who text receive opt-in messages from companies. The average number of companies is 3.2 per user.
• The highest penetration of Internet-enabled mobile phones is not among teens, but among those in their mid-30s.
• African Americans are substantially more likely to engage with mobile phones than Hispanic, Asian or other ethnic groups.

You won’t need to be a genius to figure out how to convert the above data into insight useful in creating highly targeted mobile marketing plans. But you will need to hurry. The future is rushing into the mobile channel and retailers need to respond now to seize tomorrow’s opportunities.