By Chuck Martin
Mobile is having a split effect on in-store shopping, causing some people to shop there more and some less.
However, for most (59%) consumers, mobile has yet to change the amount of shopping they do in a brick and mortar store, according to new Gallup research.
Mobile obviously can impact shopping in a myriad of ways. Some shoppers may be looking up products online and then buying in person while others can be driven to a store by a coupon or offer sent to their phone.
Meanwhile, others can be searching and buying online from their mobile device while never leaving the house.
Gallup found such a split, with mobile technology increasing in-person retail shopping for 22% of consumers and decreasing it for 19%.
There’s a difference, however, when viewed by age group.
For consumers up to 29 years old, mobile has led to an increase in their in-person retail shopping. By age group, here’s how much mobile has increased in-store shopping:
29% — 18-29 years
24% — 30-49 years
17% — 50-64 years
16% — 65+ years
One potential factor for the larger impact on younger consumers is that group is less likely to have credit cards, limiting their ability to shop online, according to Gallup, whose survey is based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,505 adults 18 and older in the U.S.
Stores also still rule when it comes to larger purchase transactions. For the most recent purchase of $50 or more that consumers made, here’s where the money was spent:
60% — In the store
34% — On the retailer’s website using a laptop or computer
3% — On the retailer’s website using a smartphone or other mobile device
1% — Using the retailer’s app on a smartphone or other mobile device
Most consumers are not opposed to making a mobile purchase, with about half (49%) already having made one and half (50%) not.
While the majority of shoppers reside in the status quo, the challenge for retailers is to find ways to effectively reach the other two groups: those driven to the store by mobile and those staying away.
Otherwise, half of the money spent on reaching mobile shoppers may be wasted. And the retailer may never know which half.
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. He also addresses Social Media in Mobile.
