In the past year alone, the percentage of households owning tablets has doubled to 24%. And according to a report carried out by Ofcom, there are currently 82.7 million active mobile contracts throughout the UK.
The rise in smartphone and tablet purchases has inevitably meant that marketers have had to rethink and even reshape their mobile strategies ahead of particularly competitive times – such as the holiday season. Retailers must embrace new technologies and capitalise on the tools available that enable them to reach potential shoppers during this particularly busy period.
Introducing Augmented Reality
With the rise in the QR code comes something known as AR advertising, which is a form of advertising that teases window-shoppers with a ‘try before you buy’ mobile experience. UK retailers such as Argos and Accessorize have all taken advantage of the AR app, blippar, which gives retailers the opportunity to explore and interact with products virtually, play games, view behind the scenes footage from TV ad campaigns and share what they see across social media, which offers benefits to retailers and consumers. Retailers are literally immersing consumers into their brands by encouraging them to get heavily involved through a variety of features.
New Tablet Releases
While most retailers have been searching for effective ways to reach mobile audiences, others have taken things one step further by releasing their own tablets. Supermarket giant, Tesco, recently released its first Android tablet, the Hudl, which features the store’s pre-loaded service apps (including Tesco Direct and Tesco Grocery), thus creating a holistic, convenient shopping experience.
Another retailer to release its own tablet is Argos with the MyTablet, a device in the ‘less expensive’ price range that is targeted at the younger ‘tween’ demographic (typically 8 – 12-year-olds). This shift in targeting demonstrates that the retailer has thought hard about the current marketing environment, by offering a cheaper alternative for families who do not own a tablet device and also understanding that tablet purchases are likely to be on the rise this Christmas.
The Secret lies in the Mobile
A report carried out by the British trade associated, The British Retail Consortium (BRC), found that online sales rose by 17.8% in December 2012, thanks to a rise in consumers doing their shopping via smartphone and tablet. Combined with the fact that more and more people now own mobiles and tablets, this trend looks set to continue throughout this holiday season. Marketers have been advised to expect a surge in mobile and tablet purchases this Christmas, and experts suggest that the most popular purchasing times are the second weekend of December and Christmas Day itself. As such, marketers should have their advertising campaigns at the ready to retarget users just before Christmas.
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