Mobile technology can actually drive business to brick-and-mortar stores, according to recent research.
More people are using smartphone technology, especially with location-based information and mobile search, to find stores. An infographic cited by research firm MarketingSherpa showed that 72 percent of mobile users are looking for information on the go, demonstrating the need for retailers to utilize mobile search optimization.
The infographic illustrated highlighted the trend:
- Of the 55 percent of people who searched for a physical store on their smartphone, 68 percent of them visited a business.
- The most common way for retailers to optimize for mobile search is to create a mobile version of their website, followed by a mobile site map and then mobile stylesheets.
- Despite the growth of customers using mobile technology, only 20 percent of businesses responded that mobile is somewhat important and 30 percent responded that it is not important to achieving their marketing objectives.
We’re only going to become more and more mobile as consumers. Most people no longer work 9-to-5; so they want to shop whenever they have time. People are shopping more online because of this. E-commerce lowers the cost for retailers because they don’t have to provide a brick-and-mortar store or sales staff, but retailers still have to deliver on the fundamentals.
Retailers have to make sure they can still satisfy customer demand. Customers now expect to get a great experience whether they shop in the store, online, on their smartphone or tablet. They have no patience for retailers who don’t get it right.
Mobile check-ins are another way to create interaction with your customers and it’s free advertising for the store.
Source: Marketing Sherpa, May 2012
