Advertisers target mobile shoppers

Thursday, April 10, 2014 - 09:08 by Mike Price

Advertisers target mobile shoppers

With the rise of m-commerce, more people in the UK are carrying out safe shopping online from smartphones and tablets than ever before. So it is probably unsurprising that this has led to advertisers spending ever increasing amounts of cash on courting this portable audience.

A new report from the Internet Advertising Bureau, has revealed that last year a total of ?6.3 billion was invested in mobile advertising, covering a range of campaigns and devices.

36 per cent of people now go online via a tablet, with the majority of tablet users choosing to surf the internet while they are at home watching TV.

66 per cent of people questioned in the study said that they browse the web from at least two devices, including a desktop or laptop computer and a secondary platform, which is usually either a smartphone or tablet. So consumers are diversifying the ways they access safe shopping online.

Spending on mobile ads was twice as high in 2013 as the year before, making up 16 per cent of the total investment made in digital advertising as a whole.

The marked change in consumer habits shows no sign of slowing down, with more and more retailers choosing to adapt their websites for mobile platforms, or creating dedicated applications to help people shop online while they are on the move.

Another benefit of m-commerce is that portable devices have features which are beneficial for use in a retail environment, such as cameras for scanning bar codes and NFC technology which even makes it possible for people to use mobiles as an alternative to payment cards.

Targeting consumers on mobile devices and engaging them through social media means that retailers can advertise new products and services effectively and this is only going to become more dominant over time.