According to a recent study by Business Insider on retail marketing statistics, (April 2016) consumers are spending more time on mobile and social when interacting with retailers. Over 60% of U.S. consumer interactions with retailers online are via mobile devices, with smartphones and mobile apps leading the pack. In fact, a majority (44%) of U.S. consumers prefer a mobile shopping app than a mobile shopping website. Actionable tip: Invest in a mobile app for your retail business.
Meanwhile, consumer packaged goods retailers (CPGs) are starting to see a benefit from beacons, small devices that push mobile discounts and promotions to a consumer’s smartphone based on store proximity. As stated in a previous post, the connected consumer expects 1:1 personalized engagement at every digital touch-point (email, mobile, web). According to the research, 60% of users will open and engage with these types of triggered messages and 30% will take action to redeem a beacon triggered offer. Actionable tip: Invest in triggered and transactional messaging for your retail business.
Even though mobile commerce only accounts for about 15% of total e-commerce purchases in the U.S., it’s no surprise that social is starting to drive revenue. Facebook is the biggest driver, followed by Pinterest and then Twitter in driving global average revenue per referred visitor. In 2015, Facebook saw 30% of purchase conversions via Facebook ads happen on mobile devices.
Social and display are actually the lowest e-commerce order generators (1%). However, if you look at affiliate marketing as part of social marketing (where brands are now reaching out to bloggers to pimp their products and grow their communities), then social would actually be amongst the top five channels of generating e-commerce orders. According to the research, the top channels for generating e-commerce orders are, organic search (SEO) (21%), paid search (20%), direct search (19%), email (16%), and affiliate marketing (16%).
In 2015 online retail held 7.29% share of the overall market in the U.S. and is expected to rise to 10% by the year 2020. The growth in the U.S. is largely attributed to the growing penetration of the internet and smartphones. As mobile and social continue to evolve, retail marketing needs to adapt. What are you doing to diversify your retail marketing?
-Tracy
