Last year, around 23m people in the UK shopped via their mobile phones. What’s more, according to a survey by Glamoo, 75 per cent of smartphone users want to make purchases via their devices. ‘Generation M’ is growing exponentially, as greater numbers of us see mobile technology not just as a convenient way of communicating, but as a vital aid to help us organise our lives, wherever we may be, at whatever time.

Retailers have a tremendous opportunity to harness mobile technology, by engaging shoppers with targeted marketing. Studies from the US have shown that mobile marketing works. According to one, 53 per cent of women actively engage in mobile retail marketing campaigns, and 93 per cent search for promotional offers via their mobiles. 70 per cent admitted to making impulse purchases.

The immersive nature of mobile can have a significant impact on sales. eBay’s mobile shopping figures have grown 400 per cent year-on-year – more than 170,000 UK shoppers spend over £30 on eBay via their mobiles every week. So, how can other retailers use developing consumer habits to inform their mobile marketing strategy and ultimately increase sales?

Unprecedented opportunity
Mobile retail offers an unprecedented opportunity for retailers to get to know the shopper as an individual rather than a statistic. Marketers can now use geo-targeting to promote offers in the mobile user’s locality. They can combine this with topicality, centring available deals around ticketholders to specific events such as festivals or football matches. But most significantly, retailers can tailor mobile marketing to shoppers’ own buying preferences.

Consumers behave differently on their mobiles than via other channels. Even online shopping is less spontaneous than mobile. Retailers need to understand these different behaviours and find a way to respond. For example, event sponsors can use topicality and geo-targeting to market to event attendees, offering them the chance to make impulse purchases, such as tickets to future events, or event merchandise, while at the event. 

It’s often when a shopper reaches the mobile site, however, that problems occur. A recent report commissioned by Tealeaf found that 23 per cent of UK online shoppers had used mCommerce in the last year, but 83 per cent experienced a problem. 29 per cent of shoppers abandon the transaction when problems occur and try again later online, but 66 per cent said that they would be less likely to buy from the same retailer via any channel.

It’s no use pulling in thousands of mobile shoppers with tempting offers if the mobile site they arrive at is inadequate. Mobile shoppers expect to have a mobile retail experience that matches online shopping, but with added functionality designed for people who only have a few minutes to load, search and buy from the site.

Fashion retailer New Look recently launched a mobile retail site which provides a one-click check-out process to registered users, seamless viewing and a single shopping basket that stays with the consumer, whether they use online or mobile to access the site. In short, it’s designed with the user in mind. But then, New Look has said that it expects mobile retail purchases to outgrow desktop computer internet purchases in 2012, so it’s understandable that it would want to meet the growing demand head-on.

For retailers, it should all be about creating a mobile site that is easy and enjoyable to buy from. One that reduces the level of friction to a minimum and maximises the amount of goods and services sold as a result. A seamless experience between online and mobile sites is important, as is site quality. Companies that don’t deliver this are unlikely to get a second chance to win a new customer. Not only must the mobile site design be consistent in look and feel with the website, it should also be easy to navigate. The payment methods should be the same (and highly secure) and no spending limits should be placed on the customer. The usability of the mobile site is especially important for those instances where shoppers want to ‘enjoy the moment’ and make an impulse purchase, where they want to enter, buy and leave the site as quickly as possible. Two or three clicks on a mobile phone are about the limit for most mobile consumers, from selection to purchase.

Retailers could look at the impact mobile payments has had on impulse spending in the charity sector. Although many people plan their charitable donations via standing orders or direct debits, a huge amount of reactive, impulse donating happens in this sector. These donations can be driven by anything from a major disaster which is all over the news, to a local story, which goes viral on twitter.

In situations such as this, people often want to donate immediately, and many charities have done a fantastic job of providing quick and easy ways for people to do this on their mobiles. For example, just one week after the Haiti earthquake in 2010 mobile donations had reached $20m (£15m), and were cited as the fastest way to make a donation. The Japan earthquake and Tsunami in March 2011 prompted a similar campaign, which saw over $1m raised in donations during its first couple of days.

The rapid growth of mobile devices, and our increased use of them, bring behavioural and eventually habit changes. Where once someone might have researched a purchase online at work, go home, discuss the purchase with others before eventually going back online or heading to a shop, people can now buy what they want immediately, at the point of advertising, or while on the move – the ultimate impulse purchase. This is a very exciting opportunity for retailers. All they need to do its understand what the consumer wants, and provide an intuitive, frictionless, seamless and secure mobile site for them to use. As important as it is for retailers to know about mCommerce, cross-selling, geo-targeting and NFC, all of this is worth nothing with poor-quality implementation.

Keith Brown is managing director of paythru