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#CONNECTsummit14: Gartner shares mobile best practices statistics

In the opening session for the CONNECT Mobile Innovation Summit, Gartner vice president of research Michael McGuire shared his view of how retailers should approach mobile technology, as well as some new statistics on mobile usage.

August 19, 2014 by James Bickers — Editor, Networld Alliance

As part of a larger panel on the future of mobile relationships that also included presentations by Jack Philbin of Vibes and James Lux with restaurant brand Cosi, McGuire began with the notion that many brands dipped their feet into the mobile pool for all the wrong reasons.

"A lot of people got into (mobile) because their bosses saw a lot of iPhones and Androids being sold, and they said, 'Let's get an app, let's make a mobile website,'" he said. That led to a flurry of ill-designed apps that customers didn't use.

One point that was made several times throughout the day was that we make a mistake when we think of mobile as "just another channel," when it's actually more of a discipline that cuts across all channels.

"Anytime you do mobile, it's about reducing complexity, it's about reducing friction," McGuire said. "It isn't just a channel — it's a link between the online and offline world. And the link point, the device the consumer has, is an incredibly important tool for them." He said he has heard the modern mobile phone described as "the remote control for life," especially when talking about Millennial users.

Other insights and stats that McGuire shared in the session:

Sales of mobile device units represented $13 billion in revenue in 2013. Gartner foresees that will go up to $42 billion in 2018.
71 percent of smartphone users in developed countries use their phone five times a day, on average.
In the United States, 22 percent of digital commerce revenue is coming from mobile.
86 percent of mobile users use their device while they are consuming other media.
Average time spent using a mobile device varies drastically by type: The average smartphone session lasts 47 minutes, while tablet users are pinching and swiping for an average of 59 minutes. By contrast, the typical session on a desktop or laptop computer is around 90 minutes.