The Truth about Mobiles and Shopping
by Bob Burgoyne, TNS
If you’ve spent the last few years worrying about mobile showrooming, then the results of a pioneering study of those who actually use shopping apps might surprise you…
Far from trying to head off the rise of mobile shopping, your greatest opportunity might lie in encouraging it.
A lot of shoppers carry apps on their mobile phone that enable them to find product information, compare prices – and seek out better deals. A lot of those shoppers have at some point used those apps to find out if the store they are standing in really offers them the best deal they can get. These are the kinds of topline data points that give both brand marketers and retailers sleepless nights. Mobile has been earmarked as the new frontline in their bid to maintain share of shoppers’ spending: they must use it to steal shoppers and spend from others – or be the victim of such mobile showrooming themselves.
A new approach to mobile research
In a groundbreaking approach to mapping the real influence of mobile on shopping in the US, that’s exactly what TNS did. And the results suggest the need for a major rethink on mobile’s current and potential role. On the one hand, apps are not diverting shoppers from buying products in anything like the numbers that previous research has suggested; on the other, retailers’ impressive equity in the mobile space mean that they are best placed to lead its development as a disruptive influence – and they have plenty of good reasons for doing so.
Our approach was straightforward – and entirely focused on shoppers who actually use shopping apps. We used mobile listening technology to detect when the people in our survey actually used the different apps on their phones, and we then served them an invitation to participate in a quick mobile survey at what was likely to be the most appropriate moment. We didn’t want to cause frustration by actually interrupting their shopping experience, so the survey arrived either within a few hours or the next morning. It asked simple, purposeful questions about how they used their phone for shopping and other activities. We asked these questions when mobile shopping was front-of-mind for our participants. And we kept the survey short, so that it would feel natural to complete it then and there, on their phone.
To continue, download The truth about mobiles and shopping (pdf, 1.6 Mb).