A Merry Mobile Shopper Journey
The Why of Mobile Shopping this Holiday
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We’ve seen how mobile is accelerating the shopping journey for retail and ecommerce in the US. Across the world, people are using mobile to find sanity in the madness of the Holidays.
At the start of the shopper journey, mobile means discovery
People are turning to their phones and, in particular, their feeds to discover what to buy their friends and themselves. Across global surveyed shoppers, 49% say Facebook is influential in their Holiday shopping, while 28% say Instagram is influential in their Holiday shopping.
While this applies to everyone, Mobile-first Shoppers—people who expect to complete a majority of their Holiday purchases on a mobile device—are most likely to discover and shop from their feeds.
Mobile-first Shoppers are in-feed shoppers during the Holidays1
Compared to the average global shopper, Mobile-first Shoppers said they were:
1.72xmore likely to buy gifts or shop for themselves on Facebook
1.41xmore likely to research gift or shopping ideas on Facebook
2.35xmore likely to buy gifts or shop for themselves on Instagram
2.29xmore likely to find good deals or promotions on Instagram
In the middle of the shopper journey,
mobile means confidence
Today, when people are unlocking their iPhones more than 80 times a day,2 “I’m going shopping” has become “I’m always shopping.” So it’s no surprise that nearly 40% of surveyed global shoppers agree that, when it comes to Holiday shopping, their mobile device allows them to make a more informed purchase decision.
And this confidence applies to shopping in a store, where 40% of surveyed shoppers use their smartphones. People are bringing into the store the same actions they do online: scoping reviews and retailers to make sure they’re buying the best product possible at the best price possible. While seeing a product in real life is still a major part of closing the buy, showrooming is on the rise.
People use their smartphones in-store to buy the best product at the best price3
Top 5 reasons surveyed global shoppers use their smartphone in-store
At the end of the shopper journey,
mobile means efficiency
For time-strapped Mobile-first Shoppers, we’ve seen efficiency become the new competitive advantage. For many shoppers, it’s about being efficient online and in the real world by avoiding the madness of Holiday shopping in-store.
Mobile means avoiding lines in-store4
Of surveyed global shoppers:
30%say they use mobile for holiday shopping because it’s more convenient than going to a store
39%say they care about ordering online and picking up in-store
This desire seems to apply to everyone: while 39% of shoppers care about ordering online and picking up in-store, this number jumps to 58% for Mobile-first Shoppers, hovers at 39% for desktop-first shoppers and only lowers to 32% for in-store-first shoppers.
Mobile-first Shoppers are unique in this regard—they’re more likely to make a purchase on their phones while in the store, but not always with the best results for the stores they’re inside of.
Checking out on a smartphone while shopping in-store5
Compared to surveyed global shoppers who use their smartphones when shopping in-store, Mobile-first Shoppers say they are:
1.47xmore likely to make a purchase on their smartphone from the same retailer during the Holidays
1.52xmore likely to make a purchase on their smartphone from another retailer during the Holidays
What it means for marketers
Send people in-store with mobile
Use mobile to create convenience around in-store shopping. For example, guide people to buy online and pick up in store. Survey findings also suggest that Mobile-first Shoppers particularly care about coupons and a gift with purchase. Use incentives like these to appeal to them. Check out our recent Blueprint webinar for more ideas about how to drive people in-store.
Link discovering in-feed to shopping in-feed
As people spend more time on their phones, window shopping has become screen shopping. Consider stories to surprise and delight. And use the feed to dynamically showcase product catalogs and shorten the path from discovery to purchase through experiences that showcase your brand story alongside your products.
Don’t stop when the Holidays stop
Definitions: Mobile-first Shoppers are people who said they expect to complete a majority of their Holiday purchases on a mobile device.
Source unless otherwise specified: “Facebook 2016 Holiday Study” by Ipsos Marketing (Facebook-commissioned online study of 20,824 people ages 18+ across 17 markets (AU, AR, BR, CA, DE, ES, FR, GB, HK, IT, JP, KR, MX, PH, PL, TH and the US)), Jan 2017.
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