Sybase 365 And Mobile Marketing Association Survey Finds 87 Percent
Of Consumers Will Use A Mobile Device To Help Make Purchasing
Decisions This Holiday Season
DUBLIN, Calif., Nov. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- According to a
joint national survey conducted by Sybase 365, the mobile services
arm of SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) and global leader in mobile
interconnection services and mobile commerce solutions, and the
Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), the leading global trade
association for the mobile industry, mobile devices are playing a
more crucial role than ever before in influencing consumers'
shopping decisions at the point of sale and across every stage of
the purchase funnel.
This survey of 1,000 adults in the U.S. found that mobile's
influence over consumer shopping behaviors is far greater than it
was a year ago. As confirmed in the study, a vast majority (87%) of
respondents reported that they will use their mobile device to
change the way they shop this holiday season. Additionally, 50
percent of consumers plan to make a purchase with their mobile
device this holiday season either through mobile web, apps, at the
point of sale (POS) or using SMS/text or voice on their device.
Consumers also plan to use their mobile devices for comparing
prices, researching deals and coupons, locating product reviews,
avoiding long shopping lines, and tracking loyalty points. In a
similar survey conducted by Sybase 365 and the MMA a year ago, 62
percent of respondents said they would use their mobile device to
help them make purchasing decisions over the holiday season, thus
indicating that consumers today are more eager to use their mobile
device as a tool of transaction.
While mobile commerce platforms continue to gain traction in
terms of consumer use and adoption, the study pinpoints areas to
evolve the overall shopping experience. Sixty-one percent of
consumers would be more willing to use their mobile devices to
influence their purchasing decisions at the POS if improvements
were made to the current consumer experience. Some of the
improvements that consumers would like to see include more accurate
results that are relevant to their shopping habits and exact
location (48%), more secure connections to ensure their
transactions are safe (46%) and faster connection speeds in order
to obtain immediate results when they are about to make a purchase
(38%).
"The results from this survey clearly indicate that we are
starting to see meaningful adoption of mobile commerce solutions,"
said John Sims, president of Sybase
365, a division of SAP. "While progress is being made, the industry
needs to make a collective effort to better educate and inform
consumers about pressing issues surrounding mobile payments, such
as available technology, security, and usage benefits. This will
ensure that consumers are comfortable enough to embrace this
extremely pervasive industry as part of their everyday lives."
Mobile devices are also helping consumers make smarter, more
informed purchasing decisions all year round. Forty-two percent of
survey respondents reported that information they found using their
mobile devices influenced their decision the last time they made a
purchase. Thirty percent of consumers reported that the last time
they were at the point of sale, they used their mobile device to
compare prices or read product reviews and ended up making a
purchase from a different physical or online store or purchased a
different brand altogether; and eight percent of individuals
reported that their mobile device validated a purchase they were
already going to make.
"Consumer adoption of mobile will continue to climb as new
technology is introduced and evolves. With mobile payment and
commerce options expanding, marketers have an unprecedented
opportunity to leverage mobile along the path to purchase and turn
awareness into preference and preference into transactions," said
Michael Becker, Managing Director,
MMA North America. "The survey results indicate that consumers are
ready and willing to use their mobile device not only to search
brands but purchase as well. It is up to the industry to advance
the mobile commerce experience and take advantage of this
opportunity to engage more meaningfully with consumers. After all,
nothing gets marketers closer to consumers than mobile."
Merchants are also helping to drive awareness of mobile
payments. Most significantly, they are leveraging mobile to target
customers with loyalty deals and coupons. Nearly half of consumers
surveyed (44%) received a deal on their mobile device recently from
Amazon, Apple, Best Buy, Groupon, Target or Starbucks.
"The mobile commerce industry still has ground to cover in order
to achieve a critical mass. Merchants and marketing executives must
learn how to harness the innovative technology in powerful new ways
so that we can see the full potential of this new world," Sims
added.
*Sybase 365, MMA and Opinion Research Corporation, an
Infogroup company, make no warranty, express or implied, with
respect to the data presented, nor assume any liability for any
loss or damage resulting from its use. The sample size of 1,000
carries a margin of error of +/- 3% at a 95% confidence
level. This margin of error would be greater for any subsets
of the sample.
About the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
The
Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) is the premier global non-profit
trade association established to lead the growth of mobile
marketing and its associated technologies. The MMA is an
action-oriented organization designed to clear obstacles to market
development, establish mobile media guidelines and best practices
for sustainable growth, and evangelize the use of the mobile
channel. The more than 700 member companies, representing over
forty countries around the globe, include all members of the mobile
media ecosystem. The Mobile Marketing Association's global
headquarters are located in the United
States and it has regional chapters including North America (NA), Europe (EUR), Latin American (LATAM) and
Asia Pacific (APAC) branches. For
more information, please visit www.mmaglobal.com. For information
relating to the MMA's Mobile Marketing Forum series, please visit
www.mobilemarketingforum.com.
About Sybase 365
Sybase 365, the mobile services arm
of SAP, is the global leader in enabling mobile information
services for mobile operators, financial institutions and
enterprises. We provide our customers with the widest offering in
SMS, MMS, GRX, IPX interoperability, end-to-end mobile commerce
solutions and innovative mobile consumer engagement services.
Sybase 365 processes more than 1.8 billion messages per day,
reaching 900 operators and 5.5 billion subscribers around the
world.
Sybase and Sybase 365 (or other product names mentioned in
release), are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sybase, Inc.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as
their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of
SAP AG in Germany and in several
other countries all over the world.® indicates registration
in the United States. All other
product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their
respective companies.
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SOURCE Sybase 365