360i report on mobile social commerce

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360i Point of View on Mobile Social Commerce

August 2011

ew 1B0BOverviThis is the sixth installment in 360i’s Social Commerce Series. Visit 360i.com/insights to read the agency’s prior reports on Facebook Commerce, Social Shopping, Social Commerce for CPGs, Daily Deals and Ratings & Reviews.

Even though social commerce is still so new that it’s taking its first wobbly steps, it’s easy to see that in the coming years, much of it will transpire through mobile devices. While mobile social commerce is difficult to quantify, consider a few of these trends:

• Worldwide e-commerce sales via mobile devices are projected to reach $119 billion in 2015, up from $1.2 billion in 2009 (source: Microsoft’s Mobile E-Commerce Infographic)

• 50 percent of Groupon’s business is expected to come via mobile in the next two years (source: Microsoft)

• Facebook has more than 250 million active users for its mobile properties (source: Facebook)

• ScanLife processes one barcode scan per second just through its mobile apps (source: ScanLife)

Much of media consumption is shifting to mobile devices, social media is one of the top activities on mobile devices, and mobile commerce in the coming years will quickly jump from a negligible number to a significant revenue stream for marketers in the U.S. and worldwide. This report reviews how all of these trends are coming together and creating new opportunities for marketers.

Via HMicrosoft

Where mobile social commerce fits in a marketing plan

Dentsu developed a five-step model to illustrate consumer behavior. Dubbed “AISAS,” it starts with the passive stages of Attention and Interest and then – if the marketer is successful – progresses into the active stages of Search (searching for more information), Action (making a purchase or some other form of conversion) and Share (using social media to spread the word). The final stage of sharing can then trigger the cycle to start anew for other consumers.

http://360i.com/insights





August 2011

With mobile social commerce, much of the activity right now is focused on attracting consumers’ attention and engaging them to drive more interest. Today, more of the searching and actions occur both offline and through the web, and when it’s done through mobile devices, there’s little that’s social about it.

With mobile social commerce, marketers have the opportunity to encourage consumers to share experiences with their friends even before they’ve made a purchase. Additionally, once consumers make a transaction, marketers can leverage mobile devices to allow consumers to instantly share their purchases with their broader social networks.

Mobile social commerce applications

There are many kinds of mobile social commerce applications, especially when taking a broad view of social commerce as we have in this POV series. Below are some of the more prominent or interesting applications in various categories.

Social integration Marketers can incorporate social services, such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, into their own apps to speed up registration, allow shoppers to provide feedback about products and also share products via social networks, blogs, and other means. As an example, Steve Madden incorporated Facebook ‘likes’ into its mobile product pages (see image at right) and made it easy for shoppers to share shoes through the social network. Mobile Marketer reported that adding the feature increased the mobile site’s traffic by 30 percent within 24 hours.

Check-ins Apps like Foursquare can lure consumers to local businesses via friends’ recommendations and merchants’ deals. The field has narrowed here, with Foursquare reaching the 10 million user milestone and Facebook’s mobile usage continuing to accelerate; few others offer enough scale to entice marketers to participate, though there are opportunities to experiment with niche apps. Other apps encourage engagement at physical locations, such as SCVNGR, which is focused on rewarding users for completing challenges rather than check-in activity.

Reviews As discussed in our POV on Ratings & Reviews, reviews are part of the backbone of social media and remain one of the most proven ways to influence purchase decisions. There are countless mobile apps and sites where people can peruse and add reviews, from veterans such as Yelp and Citysearch to newer entrants like SpotOn and Bizzy. Retailers that incorporate reviews into their websites also generally do so through their mobile sites and applications.

Group Buying and Daily Deals As reported in our POV on this subject, Groupon, LivingSocial, Scoutmob, Yipit and other deal sites

http://www.tumblr.com/

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/6567.html

http://www.foursquare.com/

http://www.scvngr.com/

http://blog.360i.com/pov/ratings-reviews-social-commerce

http://www.yelp.com/

http://www.citysearch.com/

http://www.getspoton.com/

http://www.bizzy.com/

http://blog.360i.com/pov/daily-deals

http://www.groupon.com/

http://www.livingsocial.com/

http://www.scoutmob.com/

http://www.yipit.com/





August 2011

and aggregators share offers through their mobile apps. For brands with mobile apps or robust mobile sites, it’s possible to offer such deals directly.

Q&A Local question and answer services allow users to get instant feedback from experts nearby or in a given location. ChaCha (see image at right), typically accessed by sending text messages to CHACHA (242242), reports answering over 1 billion questions, though those questions aren’t just locally-oriented. Startup Localmind specifically directs questions to local experts who have checked in at various locations.

Style Feedback Go Try It On, Fashism and TriMirror are among an emerging class of applications that allow people to take photos of themselves trying on apparel and accessories, upload those photos and then get feedback from friends and others who can vote via mobile devices or the web. They typically target teenage girls and young women who use the app to seek advice, show off or both.

Shopping Feedback While apps mentioned above could be used just as easily in a retailer’s dressing room as they can while rifling through one’s closet, certain apps allow people to solicit feedback from friends while making purchasing decisions. For instance, MyShopanion is a barcode scanner that lets users ask friends’ opinions on any items scanned. Another, Scandit, also lets users share any products scanned through social media channels.

Collecting Pinterest has made “pinning” one of the hotter crazes online as people share images of what they love, from design to clothing to food to books. The mobile app allows users to take photos for their “pinboards” while browsing and sharing the latest images from boards they follow. Pose is mobile app with similar functionality to the photo-sharing from Pinterest. Want! takes a similar approach to photo sharing, with a focus more on what you want rather than what you love.

http://www.chacha.com/

http://www.localmind.com/

http://gotryiton.com/

http://fashism.com/

http://www.trimirror.com/

http://www.myshopanion.com/index.php

http://www.iscandit.com/

http://www.pinterest.com/

http://www.pose.com/

http://www.want.it/





August 2011

Case Study: Amex enables social offers for merchants

In a deal that is bound to increase the number of businesses running mobile social programs, American Express launched a program allowing its merchants to create Facebook and Foursquare deals through a centralized dashboard. Merchants can offer deals for Amex cardholders, and deals are redeemed automatically through the card, rather than requiring coupons or offer codes.

There will be hurdles here. Most notably, cardholders must proactively link their Amex credit cards with their social media accounts. Additionally, merchants run the risk of alienating shoppers by showing favoritism toward one payment method over another. Even with such challenges, Amex aims to stand out by providing value to its customers, who can in turn use mobile social channels to attract more consumers.

Images via Fast Company

http://www.fastcompany.com/1767844/following-foursquare-american-express-links-cards-to-facebook





August 2011

Using the strategic lens to evaluate opportunities

When considering any of the manifold opportunities that mobile social commerce presents, it’s helpful to return to the 360i Strategic Lens, which presents four questions marketers must answer thoroughly to set themselves up for success while minimizing potential mishaps.

Here are the questions and how they apply to mobile social commerce:

1) Does it meet our marketing objectives? Are you seeking engagement between your customers and your products? Are you trying to directly impact sales? Do you want to empower your customers to become advocates for your products and brands? All of these are possible with mobile social commerce, and the specific goal can help determine which avenues make sense while ruling out others.

2) Does it leverage our arsenal? First, consider your mobile arsenal – your mobile sites, applications, ads, sponsorships and partnerships. Factor in your products themselves, retail locations or other physical touch points, and staff at such locations. You should also factor in your online and offline owned, earned, and paid media to promote the mobile program.

3) Does it follow the rules of the road? It’s important to understand how your target audience is using mobile media, and specifically how they’re using any of the properties that may be part of such a program. In some cases, communication will be paramount while in others, social media will merely support a largely transactional experience.

4) What’s the value exchange between the brand and consumer? The value proposition for consumers can include deals, information such as ratings and recommendations to help inform a shopping decision, recognition for contributions the consumer makes, social currency when the consumer gets to share content and offers with friends, a feeling of altruism when consumers aid others with their own decisions and entertaining content that may keep consumers engaged.

Conclusion/Marketer Implications/Action Items

Mobile social commerce is just starting to find its footing. The number of mobile users has reached critical mass by any definition. Social media is one of the most popular activities for people on modevices

bile and the majority of mobile users are tapping their handsets to help them shop in various





August 2011

le

in

ugh that should change in 2012. Finally, marketers that sell products directly online still tend to be in catch-up mode in creating robust, user friendly sites and

ing and shopping. These shifts in consumer behavior will increasingly have an impact on how people make transactions and engage in

mouth activities that influence purchasing decisions.

ways.

The focus for most marketers now tends to be on tying together two of the three elements of mobisocial commerce. As discussed throughout this series, social commerce in general is just starting toemerge as a viable way to deliver on marketers’ objectives. Meanwhile, marketers are dabbling various forms of mobile social media, though usually on an experimental basis. It’s telling that the biggest social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, don’t have significant, scalable mobile offerings for marketers, tho

applications optimized for mobile devices.

Tying together all three pieces is especially challenging, but some aspects described here are already mainstream, and others are quickly finding audiences. Even emerging areas like Style Feedback and Collecting can attract some of the most vocal, passionate, and influential consumers, so applications of mobile social commerce can reel in a valuable group of users that will spread the word to others. Marketers should look for suitable ways to tie together mobile shar

the word-of-

Next Steps Contact your 360i strategic advisor to explore how mobile social commerce can be used to further your marketing objectives.

About 360i

360i is an award-winning digital marketing agency that drives results for Fortune 500 marketers through insights, ideas and technologies. 360i helps its clients think differently about their online presence and evolve their strategies to take advantage of the new world of marketing communications – one where brands and consumers engage in interactive and multi-directional conversations. In 2010, Ad Age named 360i to its prestigious Agency A-List. Current clients include Kraft Foods, JCPenney, Coca-Cola, NBC Universal and H&R Block, among others. For more information, please visit blog.360i.com or follow us on Twitter @360i.

360i report on mobile social commerce

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