By Chuck Martin
Over the last many months, I’ve been researching and writing a new book about the mobile commerce revolution and the dramatic shift in purchasing behaviors due to mobile and tablet penetration.
As many of you are regular readers of this column, I wanted to let you know that the book, Mobile Influence (The New Power of the Consumer), was published today.
In the book, we argue that the traditional sales funnel is being replaced by what I call the Mobile Shopping Life Cycle.
In this new path to purchase, mobile shoppers are active in six phases in the course of an actual purchase.
At each of these six stages, there is the opportunity to sway or influence customer behavior. They are the times, locations and mindsets when businesses can interact with mobile-empowered customers to impact the actual purchase.
These potential moments to alter consumer shopping behavior I call influence points and identifying them can give a business the edge.
Each of the six phases will continue to expand with the increased proliferation of smartphones and tablets, with more consumers joining the ranks of mobile shoppers.
Mobile is a complete game changer that alters consumer shopping behavior like nothing before it. With mobile, people no longer go shopping, they always are shopping.
The six phases of the Mobile Shopping Life Cycle are:
- THE SETUP: The Pre-buy. Involves early research, often at home.
- THE MOVE. In Transit. The consumer is on the way to the store or running an errand. Influence points here via geo-fencing.
- THE PUSH. On Location. In brick and mortar locations, a new asset.
- THE PLAY. Selection Process. Customers in-aisle near the actual products being considered.
- THE WRAP. Point of Purchase. One last chance to sway a buyer.
- THE TAKEAWAY. Post-Purchase. Consumers exchange photos and info about their purchase.
There are various influence points at each of these stages of the Mobile Shopping Life Cycle. In this new shopping cycle, the cusotmer rules.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk column. He is the author of “Mobile Influence,” “The Third Screen,” and “The Smartphone Handbook.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute. Chuck Martin is a frequent Mobile Keynote Speaker and Mobile Marketing Speaker internationally.
