Building Product Manufacturers Are Challenged with Mobile Shopping
It seems the mobile revolution is less revolution and more reality. Everywhere you look someone is on a cell phone, iPad, or some other type of device that keeps them connected. We can now recognize our friends and family by the tops of their heads, as they are always looking down at the ‘second screen’.
We constantly are checking mail, updating our Facebook status, tweeting, blogging, or trying to become the mayor of our local dry cleaner on Foursquare. But what else can you do with that electronic leash we all carry?
One way consumers have become highly empowered is with all the price comparison or shopping sites and apps. I was at a conference in Phoenix and heard a couple of amazing stats:
- 681 barcode apps are available just for iPhone
- 33% of shoppers compare prices while in the store, using a scanner on a mobile device
681 apps for reading/scanning a barcode? If price matters to your customer – and who doesn’t it matter to – imagine how easy it is to comparison shop. Just because you might make vinyl siding or entry doors or roofing trusses doesn’t mean your customers aren’t going to one day, if not already, use this type of technology to price shop your product.
- It’s estimated that by 2013, 50% of web traffic will come through mobile devices. (source: IDC)
- Amazon sells one product every second via a mobile device. $2 Billion, or 20% of their revenue, will come from sales on mobile devices.
So who really cares, right? As a building product marketer, you should. Our job is to be the industry Nostradamus. We have to be aware that the world we’ve lived in has changed and we need to ensure our companies and brands are ready.
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I agree that mobile shopping is here and used by many. I think companies like Best Buy would be better served by embracing it and putting in a bank of computers that let people internet shop right from the store and do all they can to match the price found online. They have a customer already in there store that is willing to come and look at the product only to leave and wait to get it just to save a few dollar. Why not verify the online deal, check for shipping costs, and make it happen? But, on the other hand for pieces or lumber or sheets of drywall it isn’t as easy as waiting for the UPS truck to show up with your 2×4. So, instead of following what they are doing to themselves in electronics and shoes the building industry needs to get back to basic business practices and taking care of customers and using technology to help their customers in ways other than price. Why not use QR codes that would direct a customer to how to install a product or other items needed to finish the job. Sure the big box stores could use some price matching for small items….like door knobs and faucets but the real thing they are missing is actual help when someone needs it