Commentary

Under the Radar in Mobile Shopping

A shopping trip over the weekend reminded me yet again of the small and sometimes unseen influences around mobile commerce.

Facing a lengthy, multi-city trip, I wanted some new clothes for the road so my wife and I headed out. Upon entering the store, we were informed that there was a mega-sale going on, with everything marked to half price.

An instant GroupMe text message passed along the news to my entire family.

Trying on clothes in the dressing room, we shared photos over MMS and got instant feedback (the good and the bad) via SMS from family members.

Various pieces of feedback helped influence the final purchase decisions. No salespeople were involved in any of the process.

The previous day, while shopping with my two sons, they asked me to take some photos of them wearing clothes they were trying on in the store of a large retailer.

One of my sons wanted the photos to share, so lacking store Wi-Fi, he loaded his PdaNet app, which allowed my iPhone to connect through his free Android Wi-Fi hot spot to quickly transmit the pix. (The next photos were shot on my Galaxy Nexus, so the photos were available via the cloud.)

My son immediately posted the photos on Facebook and almost instantly received comments from friends from as far away as Poland.

The point is that all of these types of interactions occur outside of the traditional sales process and are facilitated by always-on access to the network via mobile devices.

Mobile dramatically magnifies the social aspects of commerce, giving shoppers access to their family and friends throughout the shopping process, including after the sale.

Whether retailers know it or not, the mobile conversations around commerce are going on.

How do you use mobile when you shop, if at all?

__________________________________________________

OMMA mCommerce, July 15, New York. IHG, MasterCard, Joule, ScanBuy, Huge, Spyderlynk, Rue La La, BYNDL, Catalina, Giant Eagle, Payvia, Ansible, Moxie Interactive coming. Here’s the AGENDA.

4 comments about "Under the Radar in Mobile Shopping".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Jeremy Geiger from Retailigence, June 17, 2013 at 1:02 p.m.

    I find myself using mobile most often when I am in unfamiliar territory (i.e. travelling). [P.S. Interesting article title. The judges at the "Under the Radar" conference in 2010 chose a great winning company, which just happened to be in the "Mobile Shopping" space. ; ) ]

  2. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, June 17, 2013 at 2:24 p.m.

    HELL NO !!!! I don't need to part of the clown parade and tell the world I can't make a decision. And that's just for starters. You can continue with more and more people don't have enough to do.

  3. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, June 17, 2013 at 5:46 p.m.

    Thanks Jeremy, can relate to that. And thanks for pointing out the 2010 irony, very nice.

  4. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, June 17, 2013 at 5:46 p.m.

    A point well taken Paula, this will not be for everyone.

Next story loading loading..
About the Author

Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.