Mobile Marketing

It’s a new year, and with it comes the opportunity for a fresh start for retailers as well as consumers. As in new years past, I’m inundated with a flurry of trend forecasts, surveys and predictions. One of the more interesting ones to cross my desk comes from JWT, New York, one of the world’s biggest marketing communications brands. It is the firm’s seventh annual year-end forecast of trends that will impact consumer behavior going forward.

Redwood Shores, Calif. -- Cross-channel shopping is the new norm: Fifty-four percent of consumers regularly employ two or more channels before they make a purchase, according to a new study by Oracle.
 
The report, “Cross-Channel Commerce: The Consumer View,” reveals that consumers expect a consistent experience across all channels. Nearly 20% expect to redeem the same coupons and promotions in stores and online.

A few days and about 15 meetings later, I am brimming with updates and stories from the annual International Council of Shopping Centers’ New York Deal-Making Convention in New York City.

Interestingly, my very first face-to-face sitdown at the Dec. 5-6 show delivered the biggest innovation of the two-day event.

I met with Marty Richmond, VP of marketing and corporate communications for Beachwood, Ohio-based DDR, who introduced me to the company’s newly unveiled ValuText program, a location-based mobile marketing service.

Los Angeles -- Survey data from PriceGrabber, an Experian company, said that many consumers will continue to hit the stores through the final days leading up to Christmas.

Results from PriceGrabber's fourth winter holiday shopping survey found that 41% of consumers plan to shop between Dec. 21 and Dec. 24 for holiday gifts.

Beachwood, Ohio -- DDR Corp announced the launch of ValuText, a location-based, mobile marketing service specifically designed to drive sales and productivity at the company's prime assets. ValuText couples physical retail assets with state-of-the-art, location-based mobile marketing. The program allows shoppers to connect with desired retailers as they enter the shopping center to avail themselves of real-time sales and promotions.

New York City -- New shopping apps, mobile technologies and social media rewards are moving buying decisions back into the stores, according to WSL/Strategic Retail. The finding are part of the company’s Buzz to Buy 2.0 trend report, its second annual survey measuring how the power of Social Media and online information are impacting buying decisions.

Boston -- A new survey by website technology company Modapt and communications firm Morrissey & Co., evaluating mobile phone users’ holiday shopping habits and plans, found that more than half of respondents are making purchases using their mobile devices. Nearly one quarter of those surveyed have used mobile devices in the past to purchase holiday gifts.

The results also show that during the holiday season:

Chicago -- Despite all of the hype surrounding mobile commerce, just 36% of chief marketing officers at retail companies have included mobile in their holiday marketing strategies this year, according to a recent BDO USA survey. And of the CMOs incorporating mobile, 84% say it accounts for less than 10% of their holiday marketing efforts. The findings are from the most recent edition of the BDO Retail Compass Survey of CMOs, which examined the opinions of 100 chief marketing officers at leading retailers located throughout the country.