Commentary

The Mobile Influence on Holiday Shopping

Between Black Friday and Cyber Monday indicators and deals, much holiday shopping may be over.

OK, that’s more than a slight exaggeration. But the number of projections and the deals around mobile commerce are nearing a fever pitch.

The latest projections from comScore show Black Friday and Cyber Monday online sales around $2 billion, with mobile spending for the overall holiday period reaching $7 billion.

Even leading up to the two mega-sales days there’s a lot of purchasing activity compared to last year.

For example, the IBM Digital Analytics Benchmark shows overall online retail sales yesterday 11% higher than the same period last year, with mobile accounting for about a third (32%) of all online traffic. Mobile traffic is 42% higher than last year.

And some retailers plan to tap into mobile to take advantage of the activity on the two shopping days.

There will be in-store deals, online deals and those tuned for mobile.

For example, beginning at 9 p.m. Thursday, Staples will have a mobile-only coupon for $10 off any purchase of $30 or more, including its Black Friday deals.

Mobile shoppers will be directed to the Staples mobile site, where they can sign up for a text message including the coupon, which is automatically added to the shopper’s checkout cart.

Numerous retailers are sending email offers to countless customers, many of whom will open them on their smartphone or tablet and quickly decide whether or not to take action.

Various location-focused deals apps will kick into high gear, auto-sending messages to shoppers as they roam near relevant stores or products.

Price-comparison engine ShopSavvy is offering a chance to win $100 every time a shopper scans or searches for a product on their ShopSavvy account.

Research has shown that mobile or not, shoppers want to go to stores.

But this time around, more shoppers will be totally armed with an unlimited amount of easily accessible information. They also will face a bewildering number of options.

In the stores, holiday shopping may look the same, but it's not.

Shopping is in the process of being forever changed by mobile.

2 comments about "The Mobile Influence on Holiday Shopping".
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  1. Crystal Leaver from Point Inside, November 27, 2013 at 4:03 p.m.

    Indeed, holiday shopping is more complicated with more deals, channels in which to shop, and sheer volume of promotions. However, hopefully mobile can also simplify the experience as well with things like product location so shoppers can find out exactly what they need so they can get in and out. (Lowe's is a good example of this.)

  2. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, November 27, 2013 at 4:06 p.m.

    Thanks Crystal, totally agree that's the way to go.

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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.