Today, we live in a world where cellphones have become a necessity in our lives. According to research by Google, 68% of cellphone users say they check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up and 87% of millennials have their phone by their side 24/7. Consumer behaviors are quickly becoming mobile centric and retailers should consider the importance of increased mobile activity. Here are three ways in which retailers can take advantage of mobile technology.
1) Speed
In an era where mobile technology reigns king, speed is essential to keep consumers from switching to a competitor. The key here is not how fast you get to your customers, but how fast they can get to you. When I’m in a store and would like to look up some information on a product I tend to pick the fastest website, moving on from a site if it doesn’t load in a couple of seconds. This is a behavior that many shoppers exhibit, so you need to make sure that your app or website is up to snuff by analyzing your infrastructure and the website code itself for things that can slow it down. Don’t know where to start? There are plenty of tools out there like Google Developer Tools, Pingdom, or GTmetrix that will analyze your site and show you where it can speed up.
2) Location
Retailers can utilize location data to trigger ads, campaigns, and even special promotions to consumers based on their proximity to your stores or a competitor’s. For example, if a customer was near one of your stores, or near a specific location within your store, you can push personalized deals and advertisements right to that shopper’s device enticing them to buy. You can also target customers who visit a competitor's store, this works particularly well in a shopping mall environment. Know a shopper is entering or near a competitor? Send them a coupon that expires within minutes, which moves them to make an impulse decision and head to your store.
3) Content
Generate content that consumers can learn from, and content that they actually want to consume. When conducting a search consumers are usually on the prowl for information, so providing quality information that grabs their attention is paramount. Shoppers have an ever shortening attention span, so when it comes to providing good information you want to keep it short. Try to stick with the Twitter model here and describe your product in 140 characters or less. It’s always a good idea to use bullets, and if you can, make it so the shopper doesn’t have to read at all. Use images that show the product in use, or even build short entertaining videos that will draw the shopper in.
As a retailer you are not limited to just these three examples. Get creative, think of how your customers use their devices and what kind of devices they actually use. Regardless of the situation, though, you need to take advantage of the new mobile atmosphere and make it work for you, because it's not just millennials staring at their phones anymore.
Derek Rodner
