3 Offerings That You Get Only With Mobile Retail

With nearly half the world using mobile devices, and mobile phones accounting for a greater footfall than desktops or even tabs, the relevant question today is no longer why mobile commerce but how is it influencing retail marketers.44% of the consumers say that they would like brands to deliver deals and coupons to their mobile devices. These handy little portable devices have seen such a leap in technology that it is inevitable the rest of the world is catching up with it and adopting it in their respective fields.
So what does this mean for the retails landscape?

1. Offers tailored to the moment

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Online marketing can be used to target customers by extrapolating their needs based on their past buying behaviour. What mobile marketing can further do is make use of NFC (near field communication) and beacon technology to make patrons the same offer but at the very moment they are in the vicinity of the brick-and-mortar. Not just does it affect the sales factor, but it prompts the almost-immediate purchasing behaviour. People are more likely to buy from you instantly or impulsively when they don’t have to put in any effort to avail your offer. This is because time, proximity and impulse purchases have a close relationship with each other and the customer. For instance, if your customer is in the vicinity of your theatre and you send them a message saying ‘flash sale, 15% off on concert tickets, valid for 24 hours,’ the chances of people availing the offer are higher, as opposed to an offer that lasts longer.
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2. Influencer marketing

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Given the number of messages mobile users are fusilladed with, instead of investing in a celebrity brand ambassador who promotes your product because they are being paid to do so, brand influencers advocate for you based on building trust with the customer base you want to reach. Moreover it attracts quality customers. For this reason it is quickly growing as a customer acquisition channel. This works quite well for SMBs who gain a 1:6.5 return on influencer marketing campaigns. It can be easily executed on social media (the place you can be sure your customers frequent). The best part is that, given how more social media sites are experimenting with functionality that allows buyers to make purchases directly from their account, influencer marketing on mobile phones is becoming a more delineated marketing channel.
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3. Adieu to check-out lines

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With the technology to support non-coin based currency now widely available, mobile payment methods are fast catching up. It won’t be a surprise when customers begin to expect the option, and demand to be in charge of how, when and where their purchases are being made. Again using technology like NFC or smartcards, people can just wave their phone near a reader module and bingo, an easy point-of-sale!

Mobile, as mentioned earlier, accounts for the maniacal reception of online traffic. The buyer’s journey, more often than not, begins here with their research, browsing, or them acting on offers or notifications. This is the fastest way to reach them. So try not to miss out on this option only to realise and regret its potential too late in the day!