Industry leaders from Toys ‘R’ Us to Best Buy have mobile applications that allow consumers to view their products from any location. New technology is allowing users to have in-store interactions directly from their mobile phone, and hard statistics are showing that customers are now on-board:

Why it Works

A person’s phone is one of their most personal, prized possessions. For some, their entire social and professional lives revolve around it. If you can successfully engage a consumer on their mobile phone you will have their full attention in ways that aren’t possible through other mediums. There will always be outside distractions, but next time you’re on public transit look at the ability of people around you to block everything out while they’re on their mobile phone. That is focus. Local search is becoming commonplace: Companies like Wishpond are allowing consumers to find products and deals in their immediate geographical area directly from their mobile phone. They can even compare prices and features of products before choosing which store to buy from. Walgreens recently launched a mobile application that allows users to re-fill medication prescriptions by scanning the label’s barcode. Customers then receive a notification via SMS when their prescriptions are ready. The company stated that the number of prescription text alert subscribers has already surpassed one million. This shows that consumers are even ready to have their health depend on mobile technology. The ability of smartphones to access customer account data in real-time: This makes it the perfect point to create customer loyalty. Building on the success of Amazon’s recommendations on the web, retailers can now do the same thing on mobile by aggregating web, mobile, and credit card history to construct a personalized user experience. Mobile Web-browsing stats: 20% of mobile phone users in the U.S. use the mobile web every day, while 33% use it at once per week. 17% of mobile users are making purchases via mobile, while 20% have visited physical store locations after seeing a relevant ad. This translates to millions of dollars of potential revenue that can easily be tapped with a mobile presence.

Bottom Line for Local Business

2011 is the year mobile commerce will become the norm for leading retailers. Technology has finally caught up to customer shopping experience needs, privacy concerns, and ease of payment requirements. When a person remembers suddenly on the train about a needed purchase they will now make a decision from their phone: Either using it to purchase directly or researching the product and where to buy it. Check out Wishpond’s new How It Works video to see how you can utilize it for your business: https://www.wishpond.com/merchants/landing