Commentary

What Brings Shopping App-iness To Today's Moms?

Moms love shopping apps. In fact they are the fastest growing things in mobile. Relevancy and usefulness are propelling this demand to go well beyond just savings features. Flurry Analytics found the shopping category increased last year by 220% on Android alone. In fact, the smarter that retailers become about helping today’s shopper, the more attached she will become. Her smartphone is quickly becoming her everyday shopping assistant. 

So I reached out to our community of 3,000 influencers and asked them to name their favorite apps are and what it was about those apps that made them happy. Topping the list were: 

• Cartwheel by Target

• Ibotta

• WMT Savings Catcher

• Checkout51

• RetailMeNot

• Amazon

• Shopkick

Now, what is it about these seven apps makes her h-app-y?

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• She is h-app-y when things are simple.

It’s not that she doesn’t get technology; it’s just that she doesn’t have time. If you make your app complicated in any way, you’ve lost her. Cartwheel accumulates all your savings into one scannable bar code. And Amazon provides one-click ordering.

• She is h-app-y with reusable offers and lots of them.

Cartwheel also has “offer spots” which incorporate gamification. And the offers are reusable and can be “piled” on each other. According to Fortune, Cartwheel users make 30% more trips to the store.

Melissa Lawler, founder of “The Kids Are Grown, Now What?,” said, “I like Cartwheel because I can combine it with Target e-coupons, Target paper coupons, manufacturer coupons and a 5% pharmacy rewards savings pass to save a lot of money.”

• She is h-app-y when Internet service works in store.

Think about your store locations, urban and suburban. Nothing will kill the love of an app faster than slow or no Wi-Fi service in-store. Apps like RetailMeNot just require showing a bar code — no more printing of coupons — so if her phone doesn’t work, she’ll be an angry customer. 

• She is h-app-y when you remove barriers like sign-ins. 

Sign-ins for reward programs or account information is fine. But sign-ins to just take advantage of coupons annoy her.

• She is h-app-y with built in time-saving features. 

Moms love features like prescription refills that scan in seconds and send directly to the pharmacy scans. They also like features that laser point the way to items eliminating unnecessary wear and tear.

“I love apps that let me find out if an item is in stock. I also appreciate the apps for big box stores that tell me exactly where I can find it on the shelf,” said Amy Fulcher, “As the Bunny Hops” influencer who has 15 shopping apps on her phone.

Or Ibotta simply allows her to snap a photo of the receipt to earn cash back. 

• She is h-app-y when you give her more of what she wants.

Incorporate daily deals to avoid being the app she deletes because she no longer finds it useful. Amazon offers instant access to gold box deals that include the deal of the day.

• She is h-app-y when you bridge the mobile experience with old-school tactics.

The Flipp app takes your good old flyer and incorporates location features and price matching. “It shows me the current flyers for whatever area I’m in (U.S. or Canada). If I’m looking for something in particular, I can search for it and it will show me all the locations where it’s on sale. At stores that price match, I’m able to show them the flyers on the app and get the savings.” replied Cyn Gagen of Creative Cynchronicity.

And remember to track when she is using the app to catch her attention and build loyalty with special offers. The Flurry research also found shopping app usage spiked during the morning commute time of 9 a.m., lunchtime at noon and about 8 p.m. when returning home.

1 comment about "What Brings Shopping App-iness To Today's Moms?".
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  1. Libra White from Wanderful Media, February 6, 2015 at 3:38 p.m.

    Great list, I'm a fan of all of these apps. Plus (I know I'm biased but) love Find&Save for finding sales, coupons and getting cash back! :)

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