Now here are the mobile trends ahead of us this year:
Although we can place Mobile First in different contexts, here above all we are thinking about users for whom the mobile screen is the primary one. As we’ve already shared on our Facebook page, by 2016 mobile search will become dominant by exceeding desktop search by 27,8 billion queries. 2014 will be a big step towards that number – already in mid-2013 we found out that next year the number of mobile subscriptions will surpass the Earth’s population!
If we’re to judge by Starbucks, apps are the new credit cards. You see, this popular chain lets you pay for your coffee through a mobile app. The jeans store Hointer in Seattle operates on a similar basis: they don’t even have shop assistants, it’s all done through apps, and the owner, Nadia Shouraboura, the ex-president of Amazon, claims that in the future all shopping will be done this way. So our keyword for next year is – a mobile wallet.
Back in mid-2012 it was predicted that in 2014 out of the 49,6 billion hits on top 500 e-retailer sites, more than half (53,2 %) would come from mobile devices! As you can see from this infographic, Mobile platforms are set to change the way we buy, transact and consume in our local environment. Local commerce is a massive carrot for growth, a 1 trillion opportunity in US alone. According to latest reports, 73% retailers will be integrating the mobile component into their strategy.
Mobile loyalty programs will start taking over the traditional ones, with mobile apps and social networks taking on a key role. Likes, shares, +1, fans, followers – these are the new currencies that have already entered the loyalty programs. That way you might get a 100 points if you have lunch at your favorite bistro twice a week, and a 100 more if you then share it with your followers on Twitter or become a fan of the bistro on Facebook. But perhaps it’s even more significant that loyalty programs are now, thanks to places like ShoutEm, accessible to everyone – from the smallest flower shop, to mid-sized restaurant to any corporation.
Considering that mobile devices are where the users are these days, a part of the advertising budgets is moving there as well. CTR (click through rate) on mobiles is up to 18% (and only 1% on desktop computers) so it’s no wonder that mobile advertising is on the rise as well. Not to mention that mobility will become the key to the advertising strategy of every major brand. And BlueTreeApps, which enables the integration of different advertising platforms, and provides support for all the leading ones, will enable both the big as well as the small to get a piece of this giant cake.
