Mobile apps | Internet Marketing Blog

A quarter of shoppers admit to 'showrooming' over Christmas

Almost a quarter (24%) of UK shoppers used their mobile while in-store to compare prices in the run-up to Christmas, according to a new survey from Foolproof.

The process, known as ‘showrooming’, means that retailers have to come up with new ways to encourage customers to make a purchase in-store.

Alarmingly for some retailers, the survey of 1,000 adults also found that 40% of showroomers, or one in 10 of all shoppers, bought items from a competitor after comparing prices on their phone.

Unsurprisingly the habit is more prevalent among younger shoppers, with 39% of 18-39 year olds actively engaging in showrooming over Christmas compared to just 18% of shoppers over the age of 40.

by David Moth 08 January 2013 10:14am 8 comments

Poke: should you have more than one mobile app?

For many companies, a native mobile app is one of the most important parts of a mobile strategy.

Unfortunately, although the costs of building native mobile apps are in many cases decreasing, building a successful mobile app is increasingly difficult.

by Patricio Robles 03 January 2013 14:00pm 1 comment

HTML5 not ready for prime time? Sencha builds Fastbook, says not so fast

Facebook, may not yet be an expert source for advice on consumer internet monetization, but when the world's largest social network talks technology, the industry listens.

So when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg suggested that his company made a mistake in betting on HTML5 and decided to rebuild the Facebook iOS app in response to user criticism about poor experience and performance, a lot of people took note.

by Patricio Robles 18 December 2012 20:06pm 3 comments

Occupy the app stores? 25 companies earn 50% of app revenue

According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, the amount of time U.S. consumers spend per day interacting with mobile apps surpassed time spent browsing the web in 2011.

In 2013, television will be the target. This month, the average consumers has spent 168 minutes each day in front of the small screen and 127 minutes in front of the even smaller screen. If mobile apps continue their march next year, they could conceivably leave television in the rear view mirror.

by Patricio Robles 06 December 2012 15:34pm 0 comments

Mobile fuels growth of social media, but ad efficacy still a big problem: report

This holiday shopping season, retailers are witnessing first-hand just how important mobile has become to their businesses.

And they're not alone. According to Nielsen's Social Media Report 2012, mobile is now crucial to social media as it is driving the growth of the most popular social networks.

by Patricio Robles 04 December 2012 16:05pm 1 comment

Forget mobile-first: solution-first is the only way to succeed

A growing number of companies adopt a mobile-first perspective and investors increasingly encourage entrepreneurs to think about mobile before the web, and it's not hard to understand why.

Smart phones penetration in developed nations has jumped significantly over the past several years, mobile internet usage has skyrocketed and there are now literally billions of mobile devices in use around the world.

by Patricio Robles 03 December 2012 15:21pm 4 comments

Econsultancy's favourite mobile apps from 2012

Last week I asked everyone from Econsultancy to nominate their favourite mobile apps from 2012.

Ideally I was looking for m-commerce suggestions, but really just wanted to find out what everyone’s favourite apps were from the past 12 months.

The result were quite revealing, as a majority of the apps weren't actually released this year.

In fact, most people nominated apps that were several years old, which is either an indication that Econsultancy staff don't use that many apps, or else it's a sign that major brands haven't launched that many great apps in 2012.

As you will see from the list, the BBC features prominently as do functional apps such as mobile banking and travel.

by David Moth 28 November 2012 11:26am 1 comment

How to market your app across the app stores

As it stands, Google Play and Apple’s App Store have around 700,000 live apps each, followed by Windows with 126,530 and Amazon with just over 50,000 apps. As app numbers continue to increase, so is the competition for search-friendly and visible apps.

A number of people are starting to talk about app store SEO as developers and marketers look for ways to ensure their apps can be found across the app stores.

We’ll be focusing on both the App Store and Google Play for this post, solely because there currently isn’t enough research on SEO for Windows Marketplace or Amazon's Appstore.

by Clair O'Neill 26 November 2012 11:53am 4 comments

How to avoid online scams during the holiday season

As 62% of holiday shopping will be online and consumers are estimated to spend $586.1 billion over the next six weeks, it's important for shoppers to be vigilant when it comes to online safety.

Everyone is looking for a deal over the holidays and as Black Friday brings its own plethora of deals, fraudsters are taking advantage of our vulnerability.

by Heather Taylor 20 November 2012 16:32pm 2 comments

Can Calvin Harris and The xx use mobile apps to drive record sales?

The music industry has been in decline for a number of years, with the finger of blame pointed squarely in the direction of the internet and illegal downloads.

Digital revenues from iTunes and Spotify have plugged the gap to some extent, but things certainly aren’t what they used to be.

As part of this shift towards using digital to drive record sales, last week Calvin Harris and The xx both launched mobile apps to promote their new albums.

The apps are available on iOS and Android, but offer very different functionality.

I tried both of them out on Android to see whether they stand a chance of boosting record sales...

by David Moth 13 November 2012 10:16am 0 comments