Smartphones need a smart strategy
Research from Barclays Corporate out today suggests that in the next 10 years the amount of money spent via mobile phones will rise from the £1.3 billion it is today to £19.3 billion by 2021.
At the moment, most of this money is spent on food shopping – £300 million, rising to £5 billion in 10 years time. It is on personal care products that spending will grow the most in terms of value – increasing from £63 million to £3.1 billion over the same period.
Even so, all of this mobile commerce will only account for 4.9 per cent of retail sales, and three-quarters of sales will still be done at the till in person.
Yet at the same time, a survey last week found 37 per cent of Britons would hesitate when shopping on a mobile, because it “feels less secure”.
But as consumer purchasing appears to become less personal (see also the growth of the self-checkout in stores), the expectation on corporate purchasing is to get closer to stakeholders and suppliers to achieve goals.
The key issue for buyers will be to determine what sort of purchasing “experience” their users desire and will be comfortable with. Is it working alongside procurement colleagues to hammer out a specification and supplier options? Or would they prefer to buy from predetermined item or supplier lists on an internet or mobile “store”?
Do you know what your ‘users’ will be comfortable with?
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Users tend to test smartphones which are comparatively costly. Probably, they prefer getting them off shops to through mail-orders. Moreover, it saves time and postage for possible “returns”. They might get damaged during transit.