Over 50% Of Mothers Use Retail Apps
- by Gavin O'Malley @mp_gavin, October 17, 2013
Rivaling the most tech-savvy demographics, moms continue to wow Madison Avenue with their ability to steer shopping trends and adjust household spending behaviors. More than half of moms
use retailer apps (compared to a third of the general population), while 38% use apps for product reviews (compared to just 22% of the general population).The findings come courtesy of Research Now and parenting site BabyCenter.com, which surveyed roughly 1,350 U.S. moms to reveal their consumption inclinations.
As mobile research and shopping grows, moms appear to be becoming more selective about which apps they use, the research shows. Across all categories, retailer app usage is up, while apps for deal sites, price comparisons, coupons, and barcode scanning are down.
Altogether, 47% of moms look up prices online while in-store, a full 72% report visiting retailer and shopping Web sites on their mobile phones, and a third use mobile to help decide where to buy specific products and services.
Nine out of 10 moms report noticing ads on their smartphones; 25% admit to clicking through for coupons. More than half of moms say the most appealing feature of mobile ads is a coupon offer, while nearly a quarter expressed appreciation for ads offering nearly deals.
In just two years, moms have increasingly taken to mobile for every part of the purchase funnel. Getting product ideas via mobile is up 125% since 2011; product recommendations via mobile is up 147% during the same period; comparing product features is up 133%; comparing product prices is up 114%; finding coupons and deals is up 118%; and deciding where to buy products is up 125%.
Moms research a variety of products on their phones, but buy different categories than they research, Research Now and BabyCenter found. For instance, 76% of moms research food and beverages with their smartphone (nearly twice as many as the general population), but only 14% have clicked to buy.
A key category for online purchases is apparel, BabyCenter and Research Now report. More than half of moms have researched clothing, shoes, or accessories with their smartphone, and over a third have made a purchase.
"Little kid view mobile phone mother is using" photo from Shutterstock.
Your article doesn't note that the research was conducted online which = bias. Sorry, you didn't ask the most important question. Survey not of much value other than to point out that online Moms doing more online...no surprise. Digital research is becoming more self serving and more redundant over time.
I actually don't see the bias in this post. Here's why I say that. When you consider that around 85% of the adult population is "online", the fact that this survey was conducted online reports results from the majority of the adult population. It would be bias if the study was conducted using people that don't go online.
Here's were I will be slightly politically incorrect, if you will allow me. When we talk marketing and consumer spending, I would be much more interested in the behavior of this majority than the 15% minority that is largely elderly or below a poverty line as reported by Pew. This simply is not the market many people are pursuing.
So I really don't see how this is bias and it's really not saying that that moms, who are more connected then most other demographic groups, are just doing things online, it's reporting how they're using mobile apps.
The reality is that we live in a connected world and the minority will continue to become smaller and smaller.