Pssst … if you’re looking for that elusive quarry-mobile handset consumers-you’ll find them in abundance online. They’re not only researching purchases in cyberspace, but increasingly making them over the Internet as well.
Carriers take note: your brick-and-mortar stores may serve that now-rare bird, the first-time mobile shopper. But for those who’ve dialed into the functionality and features they want in a replacement handset-and that’s the bulk of shoppers in developed markets such as the United States-the online ability to compare and contrast handset features and prices across carriers has become the chosen methodology.
According to Compete Inc., which measures online consumer shopping behavior in the U.S. wireless industry, nearly 9 out of 10 shoppers intend to use the Internet to research their next handset purchase. Six in 10 of those making recent purchases did so via carriers’ Web sites.
“The broad lesson,” said Compete’s Miro Kazakoff, “is that it’s easy to think of the Internet as the exclusive realm of the young, tech-savvy, early adopter. But for some products-wireless handsets included-the Internet is in fact the chosen medium for most shoppers in the market.”
The upshot for carriers-whose Web sites draw by far the most traffic, in comparison to handset vendors, resellers and, ironically, handset research sites-is that their Web sites can be their face to the consumer, who prefers the orderly, un-pressured Web experience to brick-and-mortar. According to Kazakoff, carriers should use the medium to present their brand, value proposition and, not incidentally, a simplified retail experience.
That point appears to be sinking in. Verizon Wireless has consistently drawn the most consumer interest.
“Verizon will advertise around their exclusive devices,” Kazakoff observed, “and these are essentially reasons to `talk’ to consumers. That draws traffic to its Web site.”
At the front-end of the typically robust fourth quarter that includes holiday retail sales, Cingular Wireless L.L.C and Sprint Nextel Corp. have recently redesigned their sites to streamline the consumer experience.
“We expect that those who can blend online offerings with other aspects of their business will do well,” Kazakoff said.
One major advantage of online shopping behavior is that carrier’s can measure it and use that data to develop well-targeted messages to discreet demographic segments. Compete leverages the data it collects to offer carrier customers a look at consumer behavior across carriers, its own value proposition, Kazakoff acknowledged.
Handset vendors draw far less traffic to their own Web sites, according to Compete’s data, so good placement of one’s handsets with top-tier carriers is crucial to retail success. Nokia Corp., for instance, has shown a significant increase in interest in its low-cost, clamshell handsets on carriers’ sites as it has succeeded in getting carriers to offer them. LG Electronics Co. Ltd.’s well-publicized Chocolate phone model at Verizon Wireless helped it rebound in the third quarter.
Overall, Motorola Inc. had the best record for converting shopper interest into a shopping purchase, which Kazakoff attributes to the succession of price drops across carriers on its Razr handsets since last year. At the other end of the spectrum, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has the least attractive conversion rate, which contains both good and bad news. Samsung’s sleek handsets draw enormous interest-phone lust, if you will-but the relatively high prices in its portfolio in the U.S. market can forestall an actual purchase.
According to Compete’s data, two distinct means of garnering attention and subsequent shopper interest in your product present themselves. The Motorola Q, heavily marketed by both Verizon Wireless and Motorola, drew a giant spike in shoppers’ interest upon its launch in late May. In contrast, Research In Motion Ltd.’s Pearl device-another consumer-oriented smart phone with productivity and multimedia features-slowly but steadily acquired a similar level of interest over a much longer period after its launch at T-Mobile USA Inc. The reason, said Kazakoff, was that T-Mobile USA does less device-specific advertising and RIM was left to get its own message across.
Apparently, mobile shoppers were tuned to RIM’s marketing channels in print and television and when they heard about the latest-and-greatest, they headed in droves to the Internet to see what the fuss was all about.
