An information technology research company recently predicted that mobile money transfer would be the number one cell phone application by 2012. Their data was based on worldwide numbers, so it’s a logical conclusion since people in African and Asian countries use their mobile phones for financial transactions much more than people in North America do. But now that the holiday season is upon us, and the biggest shopping day of the year is behind us, that prediction may require some rethinking. Despite the still-tough economy, huge numbers of American consumers took advantage of all the Black Friday deals last week. People rose at all hours of the morning to stand in line to wait for stores to open their doors, and the weakened economy didn’t seem to be as much of a deterrent as retailers feared. One thing that was different this year was the number of people who used their cell phones to enhance their Black Friday shopping, or to accomplish that shopping altogether.
According to the Wall Street Journal, mobile phone shopping hit record numbers. After standing in line for hours to gain entry to such stores as Wal-Mart and Best Buy, shoppers apparently didn’t feel they had to settle for whatever deals the store they were in offered. Many consumers used their cell phones to compare prices and search for better deals. The chief executive of TheFind.com, a product search engine, said mobile searches skyrocketed from about 5,000 last year to nearly 200,000 this year.
In addition, many retailers have created mobile versions of their sites so that they will load more quickly and easily on mobile devices. The mobile sites also allow users to complete purchases, in many cases using the online payment service PayPal. Last Friday, mobile online payments made through PayPal increased about 650% over what they were at the same time last year.
Although the increased searches and purchases went against expectations based on the current economic situation, there was one indication of a shift in consumer behavior due to hard financial times. Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the largest high-end department stores in the United States, saw its search volume decrease dramatically in favor of stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, and even Amazon.com.
All of this was just on Black Friday. Today is Cyber Monday, a shopping day created to cater to those who either are unable or unwilling to take part in the physically demanding shopping of Black Friday, which requires giving up sleep and standing in line for hours first to enter stores, then to check out. Hundreds of retailers are offering online-only deals. It will be interesting to see how the numbers play out both in comparison to Black Friday, and in the use of mobile services applications.
Share this Post
Subscribe and Follow
Subscribe to the Going Cellular feed via RSS and follow Going Cellular on Twitter!
{ 0 comments… add one now }