Mobile Shopping on the rise

Retrevo.com has released a report which explores mobile users shopping habits online via their smart phones.

The analysis reveals which type of consumers are most likely to use m-commerce.

Mobile commerce is the next big thing however there will be many factors that will converge to contribute to it's potential rise in popularity.

Eric Schmidt recently predicated that whilst the outlook for mobile search and mobile commerce is optimistic, it will take a while for it to constitute the majority of the revenue.

Retrevo's research reveals that consumers who own an Apple iPhone are more likely to shop online from their phones than those consumers who own Google Android or Blackberries. Whilst iPhone and Android users are quite close in using their mobile phones to make purchases, blackberry owners lag behind the Android and iPhone by comparison.

The race for mobile commerce dominance is already well underway. Over the next couple of years it will start to emerge who the victor will be.

Meanwhile top luxury brands seemed determined to be a party of the exploding mobile device shopping affair. Luxury Institute research on the wealthy consumer use of mobile devices discloses that 76% compare prices via mobile devices, while a rapidly growing 27% have made purchases via a mobile device. 21% of wealthy consumers report using their mobile phones to look up product information whilst shopping in stores. Leading luxury brands are preparing to use mobile applications to create simple and seamless customer shopping experiences. Tiffany's mobile application for finding that perfect engagement ring is a leading example of interactive innovation to serve it's customers. It features a ring sizer that allowers users to determine their size by placing an actual ring on the screen and using the slider to align the circle with the inside of the ring.

Starbucks is also trialling it's O2 location-based mobile marketing service. This will involve targeting mobile ads to opted in customers. The location based mobile marketing service uses geo-fencing technology causing an ad to be sent to a user's mobile phone when they enter a location proximate to a mobile phone tower. These geo-fenced areas are owned by various brands and are sent by brand owners and retailers to O2 customers who have registered an interest in their products.