L2’s Intelligence Report: Mobile & Tablet finds that not only has the “year of mobile” passed, but mobile opportunity has taken a different turn than previously imagined. For brands and retailers, optimizing for mobile is not just adding checkout points on the device, but using it to drive traffic to desktop e-commerce and brick-and mortar stores.
For example, in survey in the 2013 holiday season, 70% of shoppers said they would use their smartphone to shop, but only 31% would use it to make a holiday purchase. Most preferred to use their device to find store locations, compare prices and check product availability. Tablets, however, outperformed tablets two for one in sales during Thanksgiving and Black Friday even though the holiday boosted smartphone traffic by 24%.
Even though data clearly shows consumers using smartphones for pre-purchase search and discovery, mobile investments are not headed in that direction. For example, just 12% of mobile sites can check in-store inventory while 40% have implemented PayPal mobile checkout.
For more on how brands can best invest in mobile, L2 Report: Mobile & Tablet.