Mobile Apps and In-Store Shopping

This week's theme is technology. From cloud computing to mobile shopping and online marketplaces, the internet has permanently changed the way we do business. I started wondering if brick-and-mortar stores were going to fade away (the bookstore being the classic example) but that does not appear to be the case.

In the United States, about 45-50% of smartphone owners shop use shopping apps.[1] Consequently, mobile shopping as become a $20 billion business.[2] Mary Monahan of Javelin Strategy and Research recently explained that "apps engage consumers to make purchases. With the upcoming holidays, retailers must prepare for the mobile shopping trend or lose out on the opportunity to convert browsers into buyers."[3] These points all seem to argue against in-store shopping, but Don Kellogg from Nielsen thinks differently: "retailers are finding that consumers are willing to use smartphone apps to enhance their shopping experience, and this data shows usage of shopping apps is growing."[4] Retailers around the world are catching on to the possibilities of targeting consumers more directly, even as they enter the store, through the use of mobile technology and analysis.[5]

Do you use mobile apps to shop frequently? Do you prefer mobile or online shopping to in-store shopping, or do you use mobile apps while in the store itself?


Sources:
[1] King, Rachel. "Nielsen: Mobile shopping apps can help in-store sales." Accessed October 2, 2012. http://www.zdnet.com/nielsen-mobile-shopping-apps-can-help-in-store-sales-7000002218/
[2] Tam, Donna. "Mobile shopping bringing in $20 billion annually--study." Accessed October 2, 2012. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57521023-93/mobile-shopping-bringing-in-$20-billion-annually-study/
[3] Ibid. 
[4] "Nielsen: Mobile shopping apps can help in-store sales."
[5] "Mobile shopping apps enhance in-store experience." The Times of India. Accessed October 2, 2012. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-17/software-services/32713036_1_mobile-shopping-mobile-devices-applications