Fact #1: By the end of 2011 there will be more smartphones in the US than feature phones. This will directly lead to
Fact#2: By 2013, phones will overtake computers as the most common device used to access the internet. In your store today most of your shoppers may not be comfortable using their internet-enabled phone to shop. In the near future, compartmentalizing “surfing the internet for deals” and “physically shopping in a store” will disappear. Shopping will be one unified activity that our children will see as the same activity – whether they are in stores or on their phone – and usually they will do both simultaneously.
Fact #3: Mobile will influence 20% of retail store sales by 2015. That’s an average. Increase that if your demographics skew younger, hipper or more technological than the US average population.
Fact#4: When given a choice, 75% of smart phone users who are shopping in physical stores prefer using their phone rather than asking for help. What does that mean for your associate training budget? Your mobile platform budget?
You MUST have a mobile plan NOW or be prepared to be left behind before your middle-schooler gets to college. The next wave of retail is easy to predict.