The mobile shopping revolution

I have always been and will always be amazed at the open mindedness of American shoppers, manufacturers and retailers.

Their openness to the “new” and “innovative” allows products to launch fast and succeed or fail fast.

That allows the selling process to begin fast and it is a very different attitude to many European shoppers, who are often wary of the new and happier to purchase after a product has been proven.

When the first iPhone launched in the US shoppers assumed that all the radically new mobile phone technology would work.

Remember, at that time Nokia dominated the market and innovation was around the small additional bits of software that ran inside it, not the human interface with the product.

Nokia still had buttons and Blackberry had even more buttons and a roller ball.

iPhone was radically different in every way and Apple had never, ever sold a mobile phone.

But the US shoppers didn’t second guess it. Nobody said: “Let’s wait and see.”

They just bought it – whether they were 16 or 60 years old.

And they bought 37 million of them through one single telco carrier, AT&T.

I remember stopping at roadhouses and truck stops on my last “retail ride” across the US and seeing 16-year-old waitresses in IHOPs and Dennys using iPhones.

I sat with 60-year-old truck drivers who used iPhones with OtterBox covers – of which I am now a huge fan.

Now Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world with the lowest price points and most economically challenged shoppers (read most price conscious if you will), has just announced that iPhone 4 on the Verizon Wireless network will soon be available in key Walmart stores in addition to iPhone 4 from AT&T.

How much? Starting at $US199 for the 16GB model and with the ability to buy iPhone 4 accessories including cases, car chargers, wraps and hands-free accessories from a variety of accessory manufacturers.

Mobile devices, with iPhone still leading and Android phones catching up, are an important part of the in-store shopping experience.

In the US BrandSpark International and Better Homes and Gardens have just finished talking to more than 60,000 shoppers and released the annual Best New Product Award American Shopper Study, where use of mobile devices, specifically smartphones, figured big time.

The report says: “Mobile devices have become an important tool in the shopping process.

“Making or storing shopping lists and downloading coupons are the most common shopping tasks performed on smartphones.

“In addition one in four shoppers are likely to use coupons sent to their mobile device, including 40 per cent of those 18-34 years of age.” 

And 20-cent coupons are big business in Walmart, but it’s somewhat odd that they are being delivered via state-of-the-art smartphones. 

In his role as CEO of CROSSMARK, Kevin Moore looks at the world of retailing from grocery to pharmacy, bottle shops to car dealers, corner store to department stores. In this insightful blog, Kevin covers retail news, ideas, companies and emerging opportunities in Australia, NZ, the US and Europe. His international career in sales and marketing has seen him responsible for business in over 40 countries, which has earned him grey hair and a wealth of expertise in international retailers and brands. CROSSMARK Asia Pacific is Australasia’s largest provider of retail marketing services, consulting to and servicing some of Australasia’s biggest retailers and manufacturers.