Using the Mobile Internet to Make Purchases

After thinking more about the Morgan Stanley report on internet trends, one trend in particular really stuck out for me. That trend was the “Mobile internet – Unprecedented Early Stage Growth”. I started thinking this week about some of the huge impacts this trend is going to have on how business is conducted in many industries. One of the largest impacts I came up with is that the rapid growth of the mobile internet is going to dramatically affect how people purchase things both online and offline. One stat I found that was particularly surprising is that 15% of consumers have made purchases on their phones online and almost 25% have used their devices to compare prices while in a store. (The study consisted of 3,611 U.S. adults and was done by the consulting and technology company SmartRevenue.)

I feel this trend will dramatically affect both e-retailers and traditional retailers. People who have the ability and the desire to use their phone to make purchases online will be able to make more spontaneous purchases while waiting for a bus, in between meetings, or even sitting in class! It is up to the e-retailers to embrace this trend and capture the attention of consumers perhaps with timely emailed or texted coupons or maybe even through the unproven mobile advertising route. Consumers who are convinced by e-retailers to make purchases on their phones may otherwise not done so once they got home in front of their computer (perhaps the purchase impulse is gone and more rational thinking has moved in for the consumer)

Besides e-retailers, traditional retailers will also be dramatically affected by this mobile internet trend. As the article points out more and more consumers are using their phones to comparison shop. This will play an important role in how traditional retailers choose to price their products. I believe this trend will eventually drive prices down particularly at brick and mortar stores because as the mobile internet increases in availability, consumers that walk into a store will be able to instantly find that product in front of them online and probably order it for less from their phones. This makes me wonder if sometime in the future a large part of the population will just look at brick and mortar stores as a place to go to get ideas for purchases instead of a place to go to make purchases.

Article: http://www.internetretailer.com/2010/08/17/15-consumers-have-made-purchases-their-phones