It’s nearly Halloween, meaning the holiday shopping madness is almost upon us. But don’t worry, it seems like the madness may turn down a notch. Recent studies are suggesting that consumers are relying less on Black Friday deals and prefer to get their discounts virtually. Can we hope that Thanksgiving will go back to just turkey and family and not a day of shopping in mosh pits? Although most retailers already have the gears in motion to open their doors during Thanksgiving dinner, perhaps the current shopping trends will convince them otherwise for next year.
Mobile is Where It’s At
According to Deloitte’s holiday survey, more than half of consumers confessed that they are relying less on Black Friday on their dose of discounts. During last year’s Black Friday weekend more consumers shopped online than traditional brick-and-mortars for the first time ever. And guess what drove those online sales? Mobile devices of course. To be exact, mobile accounted for 57% of all online shopping traffic. In fact, mobile wallet usage is gaining such popularity that it is expected to go mainstream in the next three years, according to a report from Forrester Research. Consumers aren’t shopping as they used to and there is clearly a golden opportunity in mobile sales. So, why are retailers still focusing on their Black Friday doorbusters and not investing in their mobile strategy?
Mobile Wallet vs. An App
The biggest barrier retailers face today with mobile retailing is getting the customer to download their app and retention. Yet, a mobile wallet strategy presents a solution. With location analytics and notifications as one of the many benefits, a mobile wallet strategy provides the elements of an actual app. It’s a disguise that could potentially reel in casual users to eventually download an app.
Shoe Carnival saw the opportunity and partnered with Velocity to improve their local listings and mobile presence. The results were better than they hoped for. In just 15 days after launching, they saw a 25:1 return on investment. Their new mobile wallet strategy drove up app downloads and even worked as a substitute app.
SIM Partners optimized each Shoe Carnival location with mobile friendly and search features. They also offered an in-store redeemable coupon that was available to download into users’ mobile wallets, and once there, could work as an app. The coupon allowed location or time-based notifications and could be updated within the mobile wallet without any work from the user. On average, developers have noticed that retailers lose 75% of their users just 90 days after an app download. However, 85% of users who downloaded the coupon into their mobile wallet kept it, Jay Hawkinson of SIM Partners reported.
Mobile wallets are still a fairly new concept to most. If you browse the apps available to download in your virtual wallet right now, you’ll see there are only a handful available. But just you wait and see. Soon you may be able to enjoy an evening with turkey and football with more family members than you think.
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