Cellular phones, and in particular mobile commerce technology, are going to play a bigger role this holiday shopping season than ever before, according to new research unveiled by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).
The MMA’s October 2010 U.S. Mobile Consumer Briefing, which it releases in conjunction with Luth Research, shows that 59 percent of mobile consumers intend to use their phones for holiday shopping and for planning holiday celebrations (that figure does not include actual telephone calls).
Furthermore, nearly 25 percent of all mobile customers said they were already using their phones for holiday shopping and planning more than they did in 2009.
The MMA and Luth collaborate for the U.S. Mobile Consumer Briefing every month, drawing on information from a demographically representative sampling of more than 1,000 U.S. adult consumers. Conducted between October 15-21, this most recent edition focused primarily on phone usage with regards to the upcoming holiday season, asking mobile customers questions like how much they expect to use their mobile phone for holiday shopping and organizing, the types of holiday gifts that they believe their mobile phone would be helpful shopping for, where they find ideas and information for holiday gifts and how much they expect to spend this holiday season compared to 2009.
The survey’s results can help give brands and marketers a blueprint for effectively reaching consumers based on the trends. Among the surveys other key findings:
–Asians, Hispanics and adults ages 25-34 are the demographic groups most likely to use their phone to a great extent for holiday shopping and celebration planning;
–Thirteen percent of mobile holiday shoppers expect to use their phone to purchase or pay for gifts;
–Searching for locations where a gift is sold, and comparing prices, are the two most common holiday-related tasks that mobile holiday shoppers anticipate using their mobile phone for. Overall, 64 percent said they’d use their phones before going to any store and 12 percent anticipate using them to respond to an advertisement;
–Movies, music, consumer electronics and books are the top gift types that mobile holiday shoppers thought would be helpful to shop for using a mobile phone.
“U.S. consumers increasingly view their mobile phone as their go-to device for shopping and managing their lives, and this survey shows how that trend will play out this holiday season,” said Peter A. Johnson, vice president of market intelligence at MMA and author of the study. “Marketers, brands and merchants that ignore or underestimate this trend risk missing out on a powerful new opportunity for reaching and serving virtually every demographic group.”
If you’re an MMA member, you can get yourself a copy of every MMA Consumer Briefing as well as the 2- to 3-page executive summary, all survey questions and up to 50 tables of detailed results.
Enjoy your weekend, and leave us your thoughts and comments!
