• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, February 4, 2011

Ever wonder who the mobile shoppers among us are and what exactly they're doing? A new study by Leo Burnett unit Arc Worldwide attempts to answers those questions and provide tips on how best to reach these consumers and further boost their activity.

 

Based on an online survey last September of 1,800 mobile phone users (and a follow-up in November with a subset of 30 heavy and "high potential" mobile shoppers), the study found that about half of all mobile users shop via their devices. Arc splits this population into heavy (10%) and light shoppers (40%).

 

Heavy shoppers tend to do things like check store hours and address, use shopping apps weekly, and experiment with new mobile marketing technology in greater numbers and more frequently than other shoppers. They also skew younger, male and toward using the iPhone. Light shoppers, by contrast, skew female and are more likely to use other devices such as Android and BlackBerry phones.

 

But while heavy shoppers lead the way, Molly Garris, manager of digital strategy at Arc Worldwide, suggested in a presentation of the study at MediaPost's Mobile Summit on Friday that brands and retailers target light mobile shoppers for future growth. Converting this larger proportion of mobile shoppers into heavy (or heavier) shoppers is where the opportunity lies. About 6% of light shoppers are deemed high potential.

 

Among the factors holding back light shoppers are limited awareness of m-commerce tools and not being able to find particular shopping apps among the more than 300,000 titles in the iTunes App Store alone. To overcome that hurdle, Garris advises companies more actively promote their mobile initiatives in print circular, email and other traditional media to reach light shoppers.

 

They should also highlight the functional benefits of mobile as a utility that helps save time and money. The Arc study also recommends building mobile retail platforms tailored to customers' core shopping activities like comparing products on the phone, visiting retailer sites and looking for deals at nearby stores.

 

The same goes for retail categories. Mobile activities prevalent in one vertical may be irrelevant in another. For instance, comparing prices is something mobile consumers would do in choosing a restaurant for dinner -- but checking other prices would be expected when buying an appliance or big-ticket household item.

 

"Look at the core functions people want to do within a category and build the strategy around [them]," said Garris.

 

On a broader scale, the study suggests that retailers should work with manufacturers for specialized support for their products. Since retail sites typically don't provide sufficient information, manufacturers can fill that gap with more detailed product data.