Will Black Friday be a mobile shopping day?
The pundits are out in force declaring that mobile–more specifically the smartphone–is going to be the shopping tool par excellence for this 
Christmas season, which officially begins on the ominously named Black Friday after Thanksgiving.
I do wonder, however, how much wishful thinking is going into the belief that shoppers will be checking their smartphones for sales and shopping tips. Leave a comment to let us know your Black Friday (and, in general, Christmas) shopping habits. Does it involve your cell phone? And if so, how are you using it?
Here are some of the stats that have been revealed by research agencies and their ilk. The mobile Christmas shopping chatter mainly revolves around Deloitte’s 24th Annual Holiday Survey of retail spending and trends, published October 2009. In Business Week, Lauren Sherman spoke with retail technology expert Paula Rosenblum said one in five shoppers plans on using a mobile phone for holiday shopping, for such tasks as researching products and prices to actually buying the gifts. It is true that numerous retailers–among them Target, Amazon and Wal-Mart–have developed mobile shopping apps. Readers: Are you using them?
Rosenblum says shoppers–at least the 17 percent of Americans who own smartphones–will use them, mainly because of our time-pressured lives. She also noted that retailers are on board the mobile app bandwagon; my guess is that they’re searching for any way to boost the bottom line during what is expected to be a slow Christmas retail season.
Why is mobile shopping catching on this Christmas season? Rosenblum cited the increased penetration of smartphones and more web-friendly apps. She suggested that retailers begin distributing coupons via their apps and “engage the consumer in new ways.” “I think any brand can benefit,” she said. Her top reason for shoppers to go mobile for their buying this year? “So many retailers have cut back on inventory and are at risk of running out of stock this year. This makes it possible to find what you need instantly.”
Christopher Heine on ClickZ also cited the Deloitte report, which queried 10,878 consumers, 17 percent of whom planned to use social media sites to shop for gifts during the holiday season. Nineteen percent planned to use mobile phones for shopping, to find store locations (55 percent), compare prices (45 percent), locate product information (40 percent), find discounts and coupons (32 percent) and read reviews (31 percent). Twenty-five percent said that they will likely make a holiday purchase with their phone.
Lastly blogger David Griner, on The Social Path, called smart phones “the ultimate shopping tool.” “If you own a pickup truck, everyone wants you to help them move,” he said. “If you own an iPhone, get ready to feel a similar dependence, because everyone will want you to help them shop.”
“Smart phones, especially Apple’s dominant device, will be worth their weight in saffron this Christmas,” he continued. He touts new review hubs and apps like RedLaser, a $1.99 download that lets you scan product barcodes in stores to see whether you could find a better price elsewhere. “Another easy trick is to use Google’s mobile app to search for a specific product, then click “Shopping results for…” in your search results,” he said. “You’ll get a simple, scrolling list of online prices. Similarly, Amazon’s app can help you see what you’d pay on their site for an in-store item.”
Tags: Black Friday, Deloitte, iPhone, mobile shopping, mobile shopping apps, MobilizedTV, Red Laser, smartphone
This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Advertising/Marketing, Devices.
