Sybase, a subsidiary of SAP, recently reported it expect 62 percent of consumers would make a purchase on their smartphones if the opportunity presented itself during the holiday shopping.
The company polled 1,000 consumers and found increased interest in the technology and confidence that the purchases would be secure. Moreover, many associate mobile purchases with discounts or coupons that prompt them to act from their smartphone or tablet. Alerting prospects of these discounts can be achieved in any numbers of ways, however, email and social media marketing are among the most popular.
According to Sybase, the same study last year found that just 32 percent of respondents would use their handsets to complete a purchase. When Sybase altered the premise, asking if consumers would still be interested in using their mobile device for a purchase if there was no discount, the number fell to 56 percent. While this is a decrease, it demonstrates that half of consumers consider the smartphone a perfectly acceptable point of purchase.
“With more consumers than ever before planning to make the shift towards mobile this holiday season, it’s a clear indication that merchants ignore the mobile commerce wave at their own risk,” Michael Becker, managing director for North America for the Mobile Marketing Association, said in a release. “Consumers grasp the value, convenience and flexibility that existing mobile commerce campaigns grant them, and they expect to use their mobile devices more and more.”
Brafton reported earlier this year that the role of mobile devices, namely smartphones, in holiday shopping will manifest itself in several ways. Among the most popular uses will be as a search tool for people looking for more information and better pricing on the items on their list. The report said that 15 percent of searches on Black Friday will come from mobile devices.
