Summary: New report predicts that 20 per cent of all online sales will be made via a mobile device by Christmas

A fifth of online sales made in the UK this Christmas will be made via a mobile device, according to official figures.

The latest IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Index also forecasts that mobile will account for nearly a third (30 per cent) of all site visits by the time the festive period rolls around again.

The positive projections are based on the rapid growth of mobile sales, with 11.6 per cent of all online sales made from a mobile device in the second quarter of the year, up from 8.2 per cent in the first three months of the year.

This sharp growth in mobile sales is even more pronounced when comparing the stats of today with those of 2010. Two years ago, just 0.4 per cent of all online sales in the UK originated from a mobile device, meaning that mobile eRetail sales in the UK have increased by 2,900 per cent since.

IMRG Capgemi’s report also shows that mobile website visits rose significantly in the second quarter, with 21.1 per cent of visits to UK eRetail websites made from mobile devices during the period, up from 16.4 per cent in the previous quarter.

Chris Webster, vice president of consumer products and retail at Capgemini, claimed this decade will be remembered for when the mobile device became one of the main points of access to digital services.

“This has happened very quickly for commerce services, and by the end of this year, 20 per cent of all digital commerce transactions will be completed on mobile devices,” he said.

“Combine this with the ability to identify ourselves (iris or fingerprint recognition etc), to hold information on ourselves (eg. Apple passbook launching this autumn on iOS6) and to access such services while on the move, and the mobile device will be the must-have item when you leave the house; just imagine when your passport and driving licence can also be held (or accessed) through the device.

“One final hurdle to clear: what happens when the battery goes flat?”

As people have began using their phones to make purchases, they have also become more discerning about how long they stay on a site. The figures show that visitor bounce rates rose to 29 per cent, the highest level recorded since the index was first launched around two and a half years ago. In comparison, the average bounce rate was just 22 per cent in 2010.

However, in more positive news for mobile retailers, basket abandonment rates fell five per cent in the study period to 55 per cent.

Commenting on the findings, Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, claimed that the impressive sales conversion figures is only one of a number of benefits available to firms which embrace mobile.

“Mobile has placed retailers, symbolically perhaps, in the palms of consumers’ hands, removing many former borders and expanding the contexts and times that engagement can happen,” he said.

“With the phenomenal growth seen in m-retail sales and visits, inevitably this also impacts the website visitor bounce rates, with fickle consumers easily able to compare and browse across multiple websites before completing a purchase.”

Summary: Firm failed to gain permission from the customers it sent promotional messages to

There are certain rules businesses must abide by when they first begin sending mobile marketing messages to customers.

Some of them are merely guidelines. For instance, companies should always look to tailor their messages to specific consumers and send them out an appropriate time (few people will appreciate being woken up at 4am to be told about your latest product launch). Furthermore, they should be clear, succinct, to the point and include a call for action.

Now if your business fails to do these things it is unlikely that your SMS campaign will perform particularly well, but then again it is unlikely to leave you with a bill of $47 million (£29.6 million).

Confused?

Well the one main rule to follow when first starting out in mobile marketing is to ensure that you get the customer’s permission before sending them promotional messages. This is known as the ‘opt-in’ process and it is a legal requirement for firms planning to embrace SMS.

One would think that the legal team at a major company such as Jiffy Lube would be aware of such things, but apparently not. You see, the firm violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the US after it sent unsolicited text messages to around 2.3 million consumers advertising a special offer for 45 per cent off an oil change.

Jiffy Lube did not acquire consent from customers to verify that they were willing to receive these types of offers. Instead, the firm just sent these messages out to old customers who had provided their mobile phone number on sales invoices.

Jiffy Lube just took all these numbers and entered into a large marketing database before sending out the messages without paying heed to the TCPA. Under the act, it is illegal for companies to contact consumers via automatic dialing systems, artificial or pre-recorded voice messages, SMS messages and fax machines without their consent.

All in all, it has meant that Jiffy Lube has agreed to pay approximately $47 million to settle the lawsuit and has also agreed to obtain and retain “informed written consent” through “affirmative action on the part of the consumer through a clear statement regarding the receipt of text message advertisements” in the future.

So what have we, and hopefully Jiffy Lube, learnt from this expensive error?

Well, firstly the firm, or Heartland Automotive Services (the largest Jiffy Lube franchisee in America) should probably brush up on their mobile marketing law before they send out any more messages. The final settlement could have actually been around $1 billion if each of the 2.3 million affected customers successfully pursued a lawsuit for violations of the TCPA and were awarded the minimum compensation amount of $500, so Jiffy could have received a much worse punishment.

But, putting the financial repercussions aside, businesses should remember that just because they have a relationship with a customer in the past, it does not mean that they are willing to accept promotional text messages in the future. It is essential to get their permission first before sending them SMS messages. If you stick to this rule your bank balance will look a lot healthier.

Summary: New report shows that a record number of mobile action codes such as digital watermarks and QR codes are appearing in US magazines

Mobile action codes such as digital watermarks and QR codes are increasingly being used in US magazines, new figures have shown.

Mobile marketing and technology services company Nellymoser Inc analysed the top 100 US magazines in terms of circulation between April and June 2012 to determine how mobile has made an impact on traditional print media.

The study, which covered 46,132 magazine pages, found that a total of 2,200 QR codes, digital watermarks, image recognition and other types of mobile action codes were printed during the second quarter of the year, a rise of 61 per cent from the previous quarter when 1,365 codes were printed.

It means that more than ten per cent of all magazine advertisements contained a mobile action code during the period, up from five per cent a year ago. The rapid growth has largely been driven by a sharp rise in the number of brands that have adopted mobile action codes, with 598 firms now using mobile in their print media campaigns – up a third since the first quarter of the year.

For the first time since Nellymoser has been conducted the study, every magazine in the report contained at least one code.

Magazines were most likely to contain a QR code, with the barcodes accounting for more than 80 per cent of the market share since December 2011. Microsoft Tag holds a 14 per cent share of the market, with all other types of codes combined commanding less than a ten per cent market share.

Roger Matus, executive vice president of Nellymoser and co-author of the Nellymoser study, expects mobile action codes to become even more popular over the coming months.

“Mobile activation has really taken hold in magazine advertising. Nearly 600 brands and every one of the top magazines have embraced print-to-mobile as a core marketing strategy,” he said

“Action codes bring print pages to life and engage readers in ways that can’t be duplicated with a static ad. Based on what we’re seeing in our research, we anticipate more than 1,000 codes per month will run in the top 100 magazines starting in September 2012.”

The report found that nearly half (49 per cent) of all action codes printed during the second quarter of the year were from firms in four different industries: beauty, home, health and automotive. Use of mobile action codes shot up in the automotive industry during the second quarter, with 195 codes used in the second quarter compared with 81 in the first three-month period of 2012.

Video was the most common action code, with 40 per cent of codes linking to a video of some sort, such as a product demonstration, behind the scenes peek at the making of a film or an entertaining clip.

Sweepstakes, which enable list building and opt ins, and social media sharing via Facebook, Twitter and email, were also popular with about a fifth  of action codes leading to these types of engagements. These figures have remained steady since the first quarter of the year.

Summary: Mobile videos can now be skipped after five seconds following Youtube’s decision to roll out its TrueView in-stream video ads to mobile devices

Mobile phone users will now have the option of skipping YouTube adverts when they are out and about in a move that the video streaming giant claims will benefit both advertisers and viewers.

The ability to skip ads shown before a YouTube video is not new. Computer users have been given the choice of whether or not they want to watch an ad in full since 2010, with users able to skip through unwanted material after five seconds.

YouTube’s decision to roll out its TrueView in-stream video ads to mobile devices will help improve the viewing experience for users but it is perhaps advertisers which stand to gain the most from the move.

This may seem an odd thing to say when consumers  are given the option to avoid seeing firms’ adverts, but there are in fact a number of benefits available.

For example, advertisers only pay when someone chooses to watch the ad in full, so their budgets go toward those who are most interested in what they have to say, ie their target audience.

Furthermore, many advertisers are experiencing the benefits of video sharing as viewers send on an advert they have seen to their friends and family.

The Trueview system helps promote sharing as, after a video is finished, viewers have the option of forwarding it to another person’s email address, as well as having the chance to access additional content from that brand and visit their website.

“Over recent years, we’ve seen that mobile advertising is a powerful way for brands to build awareness, engage people who are watching multiple screens, and drive in-store conversions. We’ve focused on creating tailored ad formats that work for the user experience on mobile, whether it’s searching or watching videos,” said YouTube group product manager for monetization Phil Farhi in a blog post.

“Bringing TrueView video ads to mobile devices will make it easier to create and manage multi-screen campaigns and will give you additional reach.”

Figures from YouTube show that 65 per cent of the ads that play before videos on a desktop or laptop can be skipped, but up to 45 per cent are viewed – depending on their type of content.

Summary: Groundbreaking report shows that mobile phone users prefer apps which work as expected

Mobile phone users are simple fellows.

They like their phones to have reception wherever they are. They would like their battery to last longer than 5 hours. And it appears they want their apps work and be easy-to-use.

That is according to a report from Strategy Analytics, which identified the key attributes consumers want from an app.

The study, called Consumers Find Highest Value in Mobile Apps that are Convenient and Useful, found that quality is of the upmost importance when it comes to apps, with mobile phone users responding positively to applications that are stable, easy to use, useful and function as expected.

Unsurprisingly, mobile phone owners are not fans of applications that are slow, cause glitches within their mobile device, or those that run too many advertisements and send spam.

“Consumers pay for less than ten per cent of the total number of applications they have downloaded, with over 80 per cent of all applications downloaded being free,” said Taryn Tulay, an analyst in the Strategy Analytics Wireless Media Lab.

“For apps to hold any monetary value to the consumer, apps must be unique, of good quality and used by the consumer on a daily basis – providing them with a service or feature that they cannot get anywhere else.”

The report also found that consumers visit a mobile app store a few times per week. Some of the most common reasons for paying a visiting to the store included searching for updates available for current downloaded apps and check to see the current featured and top apps.

Many also went to the app store to see if any new applications has been released since their last visit

“Ease of finding apps was rated the most important attribute of an app store, followed by good availability of free applications,” added Paul Brown, a director in Strategy Analytics’ User Experience Practice.

“With most consumers visiting a mobile application store multiple times per week, it is important for app stores to make discoverability of apps as straightforward as possible for the consumer due to the increasing number of mobile applications available.”

http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/08/22/strategy-analytics-most-valuable-apps-are-convenient-useful-and-used-regularly