eCommerce to m-Commerce Next in the Data-Driven Marketing Future

According to our friends over at Nielsen and Yahoo!, mobile could be making some big leaps into the shopping realm this year. The recent research suggests that while only a 5th of mobile users currently shop using their mobile devices, respondents are highly interested in being able to shop more on them in the future.

As the research points out, currently dining leads the way for mobile shopping and research with most people taking “advantage of the GPS on mobile devices to find a place to eat while they are out and about.”

However…

“The clear trend is for information in every category to become more mobile in the near future as consumers test and learn how their handsets can be most useful, and as they get accustomed to researching and browsing on the go.”

While this shift will impact the percent of people using computers for online shopping, what probably won’t change are the things people like about the online shopping experience. Regardless of whether their on a mobile device or at home in their pj’s surfing the net people want:

Opinions – According to Nielsen’s Global Online Shopping Report published past June, 57 percent of online respondents consider reviews prior to buying.  This isn’t likely to change just because someone is holding a cell phone. Instead we expect to see reviews continue to impact purchasing even more as users research on their mobile devices during downtime.

Personalization – We want our online shopping experience to have the built-in function of a personal shopper dishing out suggestions.  36% of consumers indicated that they awarded more loyalty to merchants who met demands for true personalization in the shopping experience according to MyBuys/e-tailing group survey of 1,345 online consumers. When consumers were served suggestions for future purchases within the shopping experience more than half say they perused those recommendations.

Easy Checkout – Shopping cart abandonment happens for lots of reasons, fantasy shoppers fill up their carts just for a little retail therapy, others get distracted, but the single most predominant reason folks ditch their goods is, according to a 2009 Forrester Research Study, shipping prices. 79% said this was the number one focus –the problem being folks find out the shipping cost too late in the shopping experience. One can assume that this sentiment won’t change just because someone’s shopping on a mobile device.

Ultimately brands that continue to develop the most efficient shopping experience, those that come with reviews, transparent information and personalization, will win the mobile shopping race.