A new report indicates that consumers that smartphone based product searches are affecting their shopping decisions.
Yieldbot recently conducted a study with Kantar Retail showing that consumers use mobile product searches to make in-store shopping decisions.
The study underscored the influence of smartphones on the decisions shoppers make in-store.
The research indicated that while word of mouth advertising from friends and family remains the top influencer when it comes to purchasing decisions, mobile product searches are increasingly influential. This implies that the impact of mobile marketing is also rising in its importance. The study did look into that component of the smartphone experience and determined that mobile ads are indeed outperforming the influence of social media as well as brand and retail information sources.
The goal of the study was to look into mobile product searches and marketing and their influence.
The idea was to find out just how much of an impact those mobile activities and exposures are influencing the way consumers are shopping while in-store. Chris Copeland, president of Yeildbot, said the research helped them to evaluate the various forms of mobile marketing and the roles they play in the formation of consumer purchasing decisions.
“Everyone knows that mobile devices are gaining in influence. We wanted to help brands quantify that influence and provide guidance on how they can be relevant to consumers before they buy in-store,” said Copeland. He also pointed out that consumers give a higher priority to relevancy over everything else in their purchase decision making when it comes to the influence of advertising.
Among the categories examined by Yieldbot were everything from products purchased on a regular basis to those purchased only on occasion. Among those within the regular purchase category were items such as food, personal care products and home cleaning products. Those in the category of items less frequently purchased included things like electronics or clothing.
The research found that one in three shoppers acknowledged being open to other influences while they were making their purchasing decisions. This includes recommendations or discouragements from other people, advertising and other outside sources. Fifty two percent of millennials said mobile ads were their leading source of product information while another 48 percent said video ads were the most helpful in helping them to make their decision when conducting mobile product searches.
