A new report from Juniper Research has found that one-to-one marketing, allied to the rapid proliferation of smartphones, will be among the key drivers of a mobile retail market which is anticipated to exceed $12 billion by 2014.
The mobile marketing and retail strategies report found that the mobile retail sector – defined by Juniper as comprising mobile coupon redemption values, smart poster fees and advertising expenditures – would initially be dominated by coupons. However, it noted that mobile advertising expenditures would exceed coupon redemption values by 2013 as digital adspend is increasingly transferred into the mobile space.
Increasingly the retailing industry and brands are becoming aware of, and implementing the mobile device into, the retail cycle. According to report co-author Howard Wilcox, "Retailers have recognized that, even ahead of their wallets, people will usually make sure they do not leave home without their mobile device. The mobile channel offers merchants the opportunity to differentiate from their competition and acquire customers that become loyal."
Meanwhile, additional factors such as the growth of the mobile Web, the availability of high-speed mobile broadband networks and the ever-growing usage of SMS were offering retailers, brands and merchants new opportunities to communicate with customers and potential customers and to offer the ability for them to shop by mobile.
