Independent research carried out among 1,000 mobile users in the UK reveals that mobile operators, retailers and device manufacturers are missing an important opportunity to increase user loyalty and increase revenue and ARPU by failing to effectively market a mobile data back-up solution to users at the point of sale.
The research, commissioned by CelleBrite, which provides mobile phone synchronization and management systems, found that just 18% of users back up their mobile data, in spite of the fact that 47% of us have already lost a mobile phone. The research also revealed that 47% of users were unaware of services offered by network operators in store to back-up and synchronize mobile data, and 48% of those expressed willingness to pay somewhere between 5 and 20 extra and wait up to 10 minutes to receive such a service.
Another significant finding was that only 16% of users change handsets more than once a year. 25% of respondents admitted that the difficulty in transferring mobile data dissuades them from upgrading to a new phone. The survey also revealed that 27% of users would change handsets more regularly if they could transfer their mobile content onto the new phone at the point of sale.      
The 47% of us who have lost our phones admit that recompiling the lost contacts and mobile data such as photos, music, text messages and videos can take up to six months and 24% admit that they never manage to fully recapture the lost data.
What is clear from this survey is that operators, retailers and device manufacturers are missing a trick in not providing a mobile data back-up and synchronization service that is valued by their users, alongside their standard device and service packages, says CelleBrite Co-CEO, Yossi Carmil. In doing so, they can, not only differentiate their service offering, but also generate additional revenue and present it as a type of mobile data insurance plan.