@BasilPuglisi

Content & Strategy, Powered by Factics & AI, Since 2009

Mobile & Technology

SMX: What Makes Mobile Marketing Beneficial?

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Mobile marketing changed its definition in the early 2000’s when the original meaning, which was marketing on the go, changed into mobile search marketing, which are in essence, marketing techniques carried out over a mobile device.

SMS marketing is an advertising technique that involves the collection of mobile phone numbers to add to a messaging platform database. These numbers are collected so that when a special promotion or offer becomes available, the number list owner can send out a mass message to what they hope will be future repeat customers.

SMS marketing relies on opt-in users due to practices established by the Mobile Marketing Association to help prevent unwanted messaging, similar to the protection offered by the Federal Do Not Call registry. The fact that SMS messages are commonly read in the first four minutes after receipt means that this form of marketing is highly convertible.

Social Networking

Social networks are also playing a huge part in how consumers find desired products and services even while on the go. Studies show that 1/3rd of Facebook users access the social network via mobile devices. The same study showed that 56% of mobile users find local business information via the company’s website, while 55% of them find them through other social networker’s recommendations.

A New Digital World

If we thought SMS marketing was impressive, then came the smartphone. A new world of marketing was then opened in many new forms.

  • MMS – Multimedia message service
  • Mobile Web Marketing
  • In-Game Marketing
  • Mobile Marketing via QR Codes
  • User-Controlled Media

Ever-Changing Media

So exactly what is changing about mobile search marketing? For one, it has become infinitely more complex than the simple SMS original formats. Mobile search marketing is unique not only in its format, but also in the way that it approaches the consumer. Traditional forms of marketing can be a combination of intrusive versus elusive.

Intrusive methods include telephone marketing, television advertising, and even door-to-door sales. Although intrusive methods have shown their own positive statistics about effectiveness, many elements such as increased crime rates, new laws and regulations, or increasing costs have made the intrusive forms of marketing much less lucrative in recent years.

Elusive methods are the most effective and can include in-game marketing, user-controlled media, or mobile web marketing. This type of marketing is effective in the sense that the advertisements are usually an ‘in addition to’ or bonuses. For instance, users can play the free game on their phone, or they can purchase the nearby advertisement option to achieve ‘pro’ status on the game. Users can utilize a particular browser and that browser may support and advertise their own series of media, apps, or programs.

Mobile Marketing on the Rise

Although some marketers still argue that mobile queries constitute too little of an overall end-result to make the campaign effort worthwhile, it is a notable fact that Google’s mobile query share has grown over five times in the last couple of years. Mobile search continues to grow at an accelerated rate than traditional search options.

As with any advertising campaign, offline methods should also be considered to garner online conversions. Case studies also show that 37% of consumers admit to using mobile devices to search for more knowledge about a product or service advertised via radio ads, newspaper, or outdoor methods such as billboard advertisement.

There may be no time like the immediate present to gain pioneer advantages and initiate your mobile testing and paid search campaigns right away.

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New Hot Startups: Silicon Valley, New York and Virgina?

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Some of the new startups generating interest in the West Coast, New York and in Virginia? Which one of those will flourish and become the next new trend?

Flotype – Founded in October 2010. Web technology that will enable anyone to easily build large scale web applications.

GetAround – Sept. 2009. Peer to peer car rental by the hour or the day. Network of people who are renting their cars instead of having them parked, unused, for 23 hours a day. Their technology allows people to unlock cars with their smartphones. GetAround won the TechCrunch Disrupt NYC last year.

LuJure – Founded in Balcksburg VA. LuJure is a drag and drop facebook application that allows everyday business owner the opporutnity to develop catchy facebook custom tabs that provide interactive content, videos, and specials sparked by timelines and viral activity.

HotelTonight – Launched in 2010 , the website lets you make last minute hotel reservations from your cell phone for a drastically reduced price. It aggregates information from hotels about their daily vacancies. Was names “best travel app” by travel & Leisure magazine.

Dekko – May 2011. Still in the beginning stages and very secretive, Dekko wants to give users all the information they might need about a picture they take with your cell phone or a photo they see on the internet. See explanation at:

iDoneThis – May 2011. sends users an e mail to remind them what they have to do and what they’ve accomplished. The information is put in a calendar so you’ll have a record of what you’ve accomplished and when.

Blurts – A blurt is an audio comment, story, anecdote, narration or voice-over used to add passion, authenticity and tone to any social post – Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, blogs, comments, etc.

TaskRabbit – 2008, A marketplace for busy people who don’t have time to run errands. Users can post what they need done and how much are they willing to pay for the service. If your car doesn’t start, you can get jumper cables in minutes, or you can advertise for extra delivery person for a business at crunch time.

Cruisewise – May 2010. A site that aggregates all the information about cruises into one place and lets you place an order right there, unlike Expedia for example, where you have to call the cruise line after the reservation.

Dynamic Signal – November 2010, a social media marketing platform for marketers to build and operate their own brand communities. An operating system to make word of mouth marketing a key part of the marketing strategy.

Giftly– 2010, Enables users to send personal gift certificate to different stores. The recipient goes to the store, buys what he wants and the amount is reimbursed with the amount of the gift.

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Facebook buys Push Pop Press: Facebooks?

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Facebook has announced this week the purchase of Push Pop Press, a fact that raised eyebrows and posed questions about where is the company going next.

Push Pop Press, started by two former Apple employees, Mike Matas and Kinon Tsubteris, aimed to change how the future books will be read. They presented their innovation at a TED conference in  Sept. 2009  by using their first published book, Al Gore’s “Our Choice”. The book provides an interactive experience that has not yet been seen. You can read the book like a traditional book, flip pages in real time. You can tap on the pictures and they will enfold to a full screen, and pinch them down to size. You can watch the pictures turn into videos about what you read, photographed in the actual locations, and you can see statistical information. Not only that,  you can play interactive games with the book, by blowing on the screen to see how fast the wind turbines move in the picture. AND you can do it all instantaneously without waiting for it to download. The book, readable on iPad and iPhone won Apple’s Design Awards.

Now people are wondering what is up Facebook’s sleeve? Are they branching out to new business that is not social media? Are they planning to start making and publishing books? Selling them through their site and competing with Apple, Amazon and Google?

On Push Pop Press’s website it says: “Although Facebook isn’t planning to start publishing digital books, the ideas and technology behind Push Pop Press will be integrated with Facebook, giving people even richer ways to share their stories. With millions of people publishing to Facebook each day, we think it’s going to be a great home for Push Pop Press.”

Some experts say the move to buy the company’s technology might be linked to Facebook’s entertainment platform. After all, for years Facebook has been saying they are not only a social network but an entertainment distributor. Facebook has a very robust gaming platform with hundred of million of users playing video games. Earlier this year, Facebook has started testing streaming movies in partnership with WB.

Or it might be that the purchase was to swoop up the talented engineers behind the company who clearly understand the tablet market better than Facebook.

Be it as it may, the Push Pop Press team will cease publishing books but the Al Gore book is still available for sale on their site with the proceeding going to charity.

People are lamenting the loss of such an innovative idea, but I have a feeling we haven’t seen the end of it yet. Facebook, which was started in college and for college students, might have a plan to revolutionize future education, by working on the future of school textbooks. Electronic books which can be updated and improved without having to print any single copy.

And all the books a student needs, from kindergarten to post graduate, can be seen on one, easily carried, tablet.

Sources:

XY Do: Facebook buys e-book maker Push Pop Press Plans to Integrate its Tech

TripAdvisor: TripWow Provides Impressive Presentations for Many Uses

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When creating this product, TripAdvisor relied heavily on the in-house developers at TravelPod. Their main focus was to provide slideshows that displayed unparalleled production value. However, their most vital concern was that the tool provided the greatest functional ease possible with current technologies. It seems as if they have succeeded. The presentations produced by this software are amazingly vibrant, professionally presentable, and utterly impressive.

How to Use TripAdvisor – TripWow

To begin, users can choose from a variety of themes such as Family Vacation, Flying, Outdoors, Backpacking, Celebrations, Romantic, and more. Once the user has selected their theme, or skipped it altogether, their next option is one of the most shining aspects of this tool. Users can now retrieve their photos from Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, TravelPod, or their local computer.

Choosing the Facebook option to test its capabilities, forty-seven photos were uploaded in less than twenty seconds. Then it allowed the selection of photos individually, or by rows. The preview button makes this a fail-proof option in creating the perfect slideshow, as quickly as it can be done. To top it all off, you can now view your slideshow, make changes to it, and then download it to your machine or device. Users are even given a link where their slideshow will remain indefinitely.

Social Media Sharing

If the presentation itself isn’t impressive enough, and it is, than the quick one-click option to share your slideshow on Facebook, email it to your entire contact list, embed on your site, or to send it to other social networking sites like Myspace, Twitter, and over three-hundred and forty more social networking and aggregate sites.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAyKFuTO_ow&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL]

Open Options

Although TripAdvisor does target locations which allows for users to designate where their photos were snapped at, this doesn’t mean this tool has to be limited to sharing your family’s weekend road trip alone. Other uses could include:

  • Marketing Presentations
  • Training Slideshows
  • Travel Logging
  • Visual Campaign Management

There are certainly other options that could be helpful to many industries. A small business owner that owns a Roofing company could take photos of each roof they have completed, and build their highly professional and presentable slideshow to embed to their website.

Regardless of the business, most people will agree, seeing is believing. If your company makes a claim, and can provide visual proof of their integrity and workmanship, they are more likely to garner visitors from those websites that cannot.

Although many small business travel agencies have begun using TripAdvisor to advertise some of their greater destinations, no big names have picked up on this nifty tool as of yet. Considering the social media options and present-ability of their finished products, I would expect that to change in the very near future.

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Is Google Plus (G+) the key in the transition to Web 3.0

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A Google account has become the most powerful tool that any entrepreneur or small business owner could ever hope for. While Google’s general public brand has been tied to Search, Google has been building a monopoly that can and will change the shape of business, politics, and education forever. In fact, Google is Web 3.0!

Google has many, many tools and products in its offering, most of which are free! If you have not taken the time to look around I suggest you spend a few minutes and start to familiarize yourself with them, they will save or make you A LOT OF MONEY!!!

Google recently made a few updates, but the top bar has been around for longer than most realize, it is in this bar that Google is writing the book on Web 3.0.

What is it that makes Google such a force? Why is Google Plus or G+ such a big deal?

As seen above, Google has captured the “cloud” era ahead of schedule. Without even looking at the advanced features or Google Apps, one can create and store documents on their google account, set appointments organize and share a calendar, find new information and search for products, solutions, books, or even watch a movie or a how to video.

Social Media has changed the way that people interact and use the web, in fact web 2.0 was all about social media. Websites, software and plug-in updates that allowed people to interact with one another and turned a one directional internet into a multi directional web. In web 2.0 not only can you talk back to the media or information source, you could share it or pass it around. The individual web user could claim the brand of a company for better or worse. Dell had individuals that were not related or employed by the company providing customer support in the forums, and Milton’s Scrabble lost thousands, arguably millions in its brand because two other developers claimed the brand in Facebook.

Web 3.0 has been branded the “cloud” era where information, both public and personal is stored on the world wide web and accessed via data plans, Wifi or traditional cable and dial up. This includes massive files for things like high definition media, entire company databases, etc. This is really not something that is new, just look at how startups like Patch Media use google to simulate a traditional IT infostructure or Saleforce.com to organize track and distribute leads, sales and work. With only one main hub in NYC, Patch Media delivers people and content without traditional overhead in over 800 communities around the United States.

Google Plus bridges the gap between Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

In Google Hangout people interact in a real time public space. Others now have to rethink how they look, speak and the body language or facial features that they use. (The innovative marketers and advertisers will need to think how to get a coke can on the desk during that hangout, how to get a new movie poster on the wall behind that person on the hangout etc.)

Google Hangouts has a game changing advantage for those that know how to present, speak and are truly genuine in public. Users should be aware that this new social tool is a lot like “Larry King Live” and you better be prepared for questions that you may not want to answer.

Google Plus has an A symmetrical sharing system, which means that we can send to others but not get a share in return. G+ from its creation allows users to separate professional and personal lives and even organize beyond the largest separation issue that has plagues social users. This interface along with many other features makes Google Plus the most advanced social media site/tool/software that has ever been created, but all that pales in comparison to why Google is so powerful in web 3.0.

If you are in a space where you are using social in a way that allows you to network and share both your personal life and professional life, what could be better than the Google suite of products? You can share and update documents in real time, video conference, make appointments, develop leads, search out information, shop and buy products, services and so on…

A small business now has an IT Dept. in one place. They can seek out support, generate leads, share reports, organize their schedule, promote their business with video, learn from other videos, advertise in Search, not to mention capture the power of social or viral activity. The digital business can now provide face to face support in a familiar environment something that many still crave.

A teacher or tutor can instruct a class or group from half way around the world, share documents, collect home work in real time. A educator or small college can now reach millions and take online learning into a space that captures the best of brick and mortar with distance learning once only done through text based posts.

A politician can capture and organize moral entrepreneurs, organizations and supporters from an account that brands who they are, what they are doing and interact with them with little or no technical experience or knowledge.

The shift in the world economy has come from millions of individuals competing with large corporations and brands that once held a monopoly on professional marketing, networking and talent. Thanks to a Google account you can now work with the best talent, develop a impressive network and generate a brand that is professional, technologically competitive and organized.

 

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Klout Influence in the Music Industry with Spotify

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Spotify, an award winning online music service that stormed Europe is now available to users in the United States. Partnering with Klout, a form of social media influence measurement, Spotify has offered limited invitations to their new US services.

Although the Spotify invites are rare, they are being extended to Klout users who have shown the most social media passion about music, entertainment, and relating technologies. Since these are the exact viewers that Spotify wanted to reach, this has certainly proved itself to be another great partnership for Klout, the Klout Perks program, and its users.

Users who receive a Spotify invite can expect to receive, based on interest and Klout ratings, access to free trials of the music service itself, as well as a free month of Spotify’s most premium service if the members of their own communities sign up for Spotify.

Get Signed Up

If you want to have any shot at all of getting hooked up to this great new service, visiting the Spotify/Klout sign up is the first important move. Signing up is as easy as integrating your Twitter or Facebook accounts with one click on the sign up page. From there, if your account is rated as influential in industries relating to music, a free trial version of the music service may be offered. However, if new to any of the services, or if you have not previously made a habit of tweeting or sharing your passion in music, you may have to build your influence in those areas before you can expect an invite to be forthcoming.

Keep Trying

Spotify invites were so in demand in the first few hours after the release that Klout had to put a hold on passing out more invites for a while to be sure they did not cause their service, and servers, to be overwhelmed. In fact, Klout has actually had crash issues due to an overwhelming volume of users vying for this new Klout Perk. Spotify and Klout plan to continue handing out invites over the next few days.

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Lujure: A Fundamental Shift in Facebook Marketing for Small Business

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Lujure’s Assembly Line represents the most profound shift in advertising and marketing that one hopes to continue to see in social media. The power of Facebook cannot be ignored; it represents a marketing tool that has changed the way that we do business and is the pinnacle representation of web 2.0.

It is with great conflict that I prepare this article.

It is not easy to balance the role of entrepreneur and founder of a nonprofit, at least not in a case like this. You see, the entrepreneur loves having been on the ground floor getting insight to one of the most profound business and social tools to ever hit facebook, the opportunity for profit is endless…

However, the conflict comes to an imbalance once I think about the legacy I wish to leave in social media, business and my desire to make a difference. This article displays my commitment to the mission statement of DBMEi.

Like everything else in this publication, I share it with the hope that it finds its way into the hands of others who can use it to better not just their own lives and business, but that of others as well. – Basil C. Puglisi

Web 1.0 was ‘here I am, come to me’. Web 3.0 hopes to be ‘bring your “whatever” with you anywhere at any time’ and I believe that history will show that both pale in comparison to web 2.0’s ability to bring a product, concept, message and dream into the crowd.

The most profound part of web 2.0 is still lost on most and for those that do get it, Lujure is tearing down the barriers that once prevented great ideas, products and causes from reaching the world.

Erik Qualman used the term “World of Mouth” when talking about the Social Media Revolution, and while I believe his claim that social media was “here” may have been mostly accurate, it is only with the help of companies like Lujure that one can truly understand the power of social media.

While there will always be a place for those that master an art or develop a skill for advertising and marketing, technology like Lujure’s Assembly Line is empowering novices into professionals.

While it is now supported by many professionals that social media is an important tool in business, it was still plagued with the class system. While marketers, designers and coders still have an advantage, for some, Lujure just made the gap a whole lot smaller.

Lujure’s product is a drag-and-drop application that allows novice business owners to prepare a custom facebook tab for their business pages.

With little more than the average smart phone, a young entrepreneur can take their idea, concept, or belief and share it with the world. Advances in cell phone technology provided the hardware and social media provided the stage, along with an endless supply of leads. The missing keystone for most was the ability to present professionally and convert leads to sales, supporters, voters, etc… Lujure has done just that.

It is not just the product that has been impressive, Nathan Latka, a co-founder and CEO shows the type of commitment to innovation and quality that resembles the impact that Steve Jobs had for Apple. I noticed this the first time at the Likeable Conference during Internet Week and found it reinforced in a recent Facebook wall post:

“It really comes down to business owners staying focused on giving value to their communities. Master this and everything else falls in place. Cheers!” Nathan Latka to Basil Puglisi July 14 1:33AM.

Nathan’s selflessness is exemplified where in private communications he takes the time to share:

I couldn’t have done this without my incredibly bright co-founders, Josh Gunter and Brian Putt.

I was fortunate to get some (off the record) insight from Nathan Latka as to his ambitions for Lujure and I see promise for the future of this company and its products. If Lujure remains a service solution based company it should innovate with the world even if Facebook does not.

Lujure draws upon the best that Social Media has to offer, enabling facebook pages as viral marketing tools to connect via LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, YouTube and more. It also offers ecommerce tools to help navigate successful conversions.

What makes Lujure’s Assembly Line platform so impressive is the ease with which the average person can use it. While I support the argument that designers, marketers, and coders are still an advantage, Lujure has given the playing field a big tilt back towards center for entrepreneurs and small business owners lacking these skills.

This product is and will continue to be a key part of how I help businesses, organizations, and political candidates reach and share with their communities and the world. I believe that Lujure has captured the very essence of the “World of Mouth” concept that makes the social media revolution a reality. Lujure made room at the table for anyone with the inspiration and courage to create on their own.

To Nathan and his team, congrats on making small business owners your priority and building a business and platform around solutions, not just a trend.

To those who have a cause, dream, believed or created something but didn’t know how, or could not afford to spread the word to the world… meet Lujure!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHwUih6dLCk]

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Crowdsourcing

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Outsourcing is already an old word, and we all know what it means – sending jobs to countries where the labor is cheaper than in the US. The new worldwide pool of cheap labor, they say, is called Crowdsourcing.It means taking a task, especially in software design, and putting it out there to the world to solve.

The word was coined in an article in Wired magazine in 2006. Jeff Howe published an article called “The Rise of Crowdsourcing”.  He wrote: “Technological advances in everything from product design software to digital video cameras are breaking down the cost barriers that once separated amateurs from professionals. Hobbyists, part-timers, and dabblers suddenly have a market for their efforts, as smart companies in industries as disparate as pharmaceuticals and television discover ways to tap the latent talent of the crowd. The labor isn’t always free, but it costs a lot less than paying traditional employees. It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowdsourcing.”

What used to be top secret industrial secrets in the past, became open-source. It was sent out to the world to improve on, solve problems or fix. An open call to an unidentified group of people to solve a problem. It taps to the knowledge and wisdom of the many, for the benefit of many. Those who ask for help in an open-source know that their programs are now open to all. In Crowdsourcing it is between the companies and the solvers.

The “crowd” – the people involved, usually form an online community and submit solutions. The best solutions – also chosen by the crowd – go on to the source who posed the problem. The solvers are sometime rewarded, either monetarily or by fame. Crowdsourcing produces solutions from amateurs and experts alike, who like to solve problems as an intellectual challenge, or for a prize.

Eli Lilly the pharmaceutical company funded InnoCentive.com in 2001 to connect with people outside the company who could help develop drugs and speed the process. Very quickly they opened their doors to other companies who were interested in reaching their network of unknown experts. Companies like Boeing, DuPont and Procter & Gamble post their hardest problems on the site.

As an example: One of the problems posted was how to inject Fluoride in powder form into a tube of toothpaste without dispersing it. Colgate Palmolive’s problem was solved by someone who knew the solution the moment he read the problem. He suggested imparting an electric charge to the Fluoride and grounding the tubes. This person became famous in the “crowd” circles.

Another example: when HTC came out with the first Windows operated smartphone, the expectations were very high. Here it is again, the old revelry between Apple and Microsoft. The iPhone was so innovative, let’s see what the PC people can do to improve on it. The phone flew off the shelves and some stores reported a waiting list of over hundred people.

Not a month went by, and the bubble burst. The phone did not perform well. Callers to T-Mobile tech support, the company that sold the phone, were told to remove the battery at least twice a week to reboot it. Not an acceptable solution in our fast moving world.

At about the same time, Google open-sourced it’s Android. Within a few days a forums was opened and linked to many tech sites. The discussions were the disappointment and what to do with this new phone. One person, known only be his code name, took it upon himself to coordinated an effort to adapt the Android to the HTC phones.

2 days later the program was posted online, with instructions. Improvements were posted 2-3 times a day. Different people took upon themselves to work on specific problems; the camera, the map, the contact list. Less than a week later the Android operating system was sitting solidly on HTC phones.

The companies who post problems on InnoCentive’s site these days, post the reward that comes with solving the problem. The rewards pay from $1,000,000 for doubling the speed of Gnome Mapping to $10,000 for The Economist-InnoCentive Human Potential Index Challenge. Groups are formed and share in the reward. Is Crowdsourcing the new hobby? A form of cheap labor? New form of R & D? Yes to all of those. It is tapping to the smarts of people, whomever or wherever they are.

 

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Tweet Tools: Increase Your Twitter Productivity with TweetSpinner

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If your direct messages inbox is full of auto-follow spam messages or otherwise delayed or old information, you are probably like most other Twitter users that do not have TweetSpinner.

Direct Messaging Inbox Archiving

TweetSpinner provides more control over many important elements of managing your Twitter account fully, accurately, and lucratively. It will allow you to finally de-spam and archive those messages cluttering up your direct message, or DM, inbox.

The moment you log on you can choose to one-click archive your DM messages to quickly clean up that inbox 200 messages at a time. This archiving process saves them to your account so that you can browse through them when you have the time, while still keeping your DM inbox clean and clear. Users are allowed to set filters on what constitutes spam and even if those messages are preferred for archives or deletion. The archived messages are stored at TweetSpinner, not on your machine.

Follower Management

TweetSpinner provides highly sophisticated follower management and analytics with easy to configure filters that will help users locate the most receptive followers while ignoring spam accounts.

It will provide an ongoing and updated display of:

  • People you follow
  • The number and percentage that do not follow you back
  • People who follow you
  • Those whom you do not follow back
  • Ratio of friends to followers

Users with paid accounts then have the option to configure, or prune, their settings, as well as setting some fairly intricate options. Depending on the level of the account, the customization for auto-following, as well as auto-unfollowing, can be incredibly detailed. Keyword following and mimic following are also options within the user Follower Management tool.

Logging onto TweetSpinner is as easy as visiting their sign in page and creating your account. Simply authorize the account and you are on your way.

Profile Rotator

The profile rotator does just as it says. However, this one allows users to important colors and background images of items you utilize on Twitter. Simply change your design at Twitter and try the import feature once more. You then have two unique designs to choose from. These can be rotated on a schedule to keep your Twitter profile interesting and aesthetically pleasing.

Since Twitter only allows for a very small bio and a URL you can now add a bit more of a profile with TweetSpinner. You can create more than one which can also be set on a schedule to rotate to help your account maintain the ability to effectively express yourself to your followers.

Other features such as Smart Tweets will help to guide you into making the most out of your 140 characters or less and the DM Outbox options can help to send out far more personalized messages than before. Their rules-based DM system will make sure that when rules you pre-set are met, a correct trigger will return a personalized message to that user.

Site navigation is as easy as it gets with most management activity occurring from within the same page.

Who Uses TweetSpinner

Currently, users are predominately between the ages of 35 and 65 with global site traffic ranking hovering at 31,003. Most are professional females who are browsing from home. In Johannesburg the site has achieved a much higher ranking at #825.

TweetSpinner does offer a free version but most who will want to use this tool for a professional account will likely want to take a closer look at paid package versions that start at $16 USD per month and can go higher for Pro versions or those accounts purchased for social media agencies.

 

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Mobile Business: Have All Shoppers Gone High-Tech?

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No, likely not all of them, but a recent study has shown that shoppers are now regularly checking prices online before purchasing in-store. Aware that shoppers had been checking pricing on larger items online, such as appliances, furniture, or home improvement items for quite some time, it seems this has finally carried over to everyday items such as grocery prices or even deals at local restaurants before enjoying a night out.

Shoppers Interact with Retailers Via Social Networking Sites

Many shoppers and retailers report an increase in social interactions via Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites, that can lead to purchases later off-line. It seems shoppers have begun to utilize these methods far more often. It is actually quite a smart idea and seems to have swayed once again, more of the power over to the shoppers.

Consumers are actually doing a great job negotiating pricing on anything from shampoo to a new washer-dryer combo. They are achieving the incredible when it comes to getting the best they can for the money available to spend. So how are they doing this?

  • By visiting the social media sites for major or even smaller retailers to browse for specials.
  • By interacting with retailers or their representatives via social networks and suggesting lower prices, providing proof of lower prices elsewhere, or simply just negotiating a special deal for themselves.
  • By suggesting helpful tips to retailers from consumers point of views.

 This interaction has definitely proven beneficial to many shoppers and encouraged them to continue to negotiate purchases from the largest to the most insignificant.

How Did This Get Started?

It is truly a mystery exactly what caused this to become a more common occurrence but a few have made some great suggestions as to why.

  • Gas prices. Gas prices have gone haywire. While many consumers consider the cost in fuel that may occur when they have to price compare via physical footwork, they have taken to the internet to save on gas funds.
  • In-Store pricing deals. Many consumers utilize pricing deals in-store such as Wal-Mart’s price guarantee that says if a consumer can bring in another stores flyer, or a coupon targeted to a specific retailer, they will meet or beat that price. Some consumers rightly assume that if price guarantees are the name of the game, the game applies everywhere. Seeking out better deals from other stores, to get better deals at their favorites has become far more common. 
  • Many may have simply headed to a retailers social media site in effort to stage the time-honored effort of saving time itself by pre-shopping for the best deals.

Interesting Shopper Statistics

There have definitely been some serious changes in the way consumers manage their shopping needs in the last few years.

  • There has been a 25% increase in price based shopping.
  • 62% of consumers report researching pricing online for the most basic items before they head to the store.
  • 80% of women admit to paying more attention to the prices on most things they buy.
  • 39% of shoppers research the prices of baby products before purchase.
  • 20% of shoppers report researching food and drink prices.
  • 33% of shoppers research their pet products prices before shopping in-store.

Online Shopping Statistics for 2011

  • 38% of consumers report purchasing online, up 5% from 2010.
  • 60% report carrying out more in-depth searches online before purchasing in-store, up from 52% in 2010.
  • 17% share that companies that provide social media interaction, or mobile applications for their stores do make price comparison shopping easier for them.

With sites like PriceGrabber, where consumers can set up alerts on pricing, even setting configurations to email or text message them when a price reaches a preset threshold, consumers are unlikely to forget that the entire retail world can be at their disposal when it comes to searching for, and finding the best deals available in the off-line shopping world.

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