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The holiday season is right around the corner, and that means people all around the world are ramping up their spending for holiday gifts and cyber week shopping. Retailers are constantly in competition with each other to outsell one another and be the most loved brand of the season. If you want to predict which retailers will be the most successful this year, look to the brands that have mobile apps. The world's top retailers have realized the power of mobile platforms and leveraged their apps for growth during key shopping periods. Mobile apps are now arguably the best approach for holiday success and retail growth in general. So for those retailers who don’t have one, consider investing in the development of one.
Numbers don’t lie, and each year the mobile app industry has seen exponential growth in size and value. Mobile commerce is the fastest-growing commerce channel. During the 2021 holiday season, mobile commerce increased from $100 billion to $211 billion, with the majority of sales through apps. This year, experts in eCommerce predict an additional 6% increase with a projected valuation of $224 Billion. In 2021 overall, retail mobile commerce sales hit $359.32 billion. By 2025, retail m-commerce sales should reach $728.28 billion, accounting for 44.2% of retail e-commerce sales in the US.
Traditional Brick and Mortar shopping is no longer the preferred method of holiday spending. Between Cyber Monday, app-only deals, and the overall accessibility of mobile retail, eCommerce will continue to dominate holiday spending. While in-store shopping is still relevant, it’s not as popular as it used to be and doesn't appease the “convenience’ factor that modern shoppers prefer.
All of the top retailers. Like Amazon, Walmart, and Target have mobile apps that they market strategically throughout the season. In fact, 47% of top retailers in the world have mobile apps that are the focus of their scaling efforts. When the majority of people spend 3-4 hours a day on their mobile phones, and 90% of that time is on apps, it only makes sense for retailers to use this to their advantage.
Modern shoppers like their experience to be convenient, accessible, and tailored to their individual personalities. Especially during the hectic Holiday season, shoppers want as little stress as possible. Mobile apps are the perfect platform to build a shopping experience that fits all of these requirements.
Mobile apps allow for the growth of brand loyalty through habit tracking, push notifications, and relevant targeting. Mobile apps can collect data on each of your customer's preferences, interests, and past shopping habits. You can then target these consumers with products that are most relevant to them, so they are more likely to follow through with a sale. It will also give consumers the ability to browse products easier than with an in-store setup. With filters, search bars, and high-speed scrolling, users can find what they want much faster.
It will also help your customers feel more understood and relatable to your brand when the products and messages they are seeing are specifically tailored to their personalities. Over the holiday season, shoppers tend to spend more than do they throughout the remainder of the year. However, they still need to make choices and cut some retailers from their list. Making them feel seen, understood, and relevant to your brand will ensure your business make the cut this holiday season.
An emotion that tends to be associated with the holiday season is anxiety. That's right, consumers feel anxious the majority of the time as they try to squeeze in last-minute gifts, make sure their deliveries arrive on time and make sure they haven't forgotten any of their family members! One might think that online shopping would increase anxiety since shoppers can’t see the product before they buy, or be guaranteed a delivery date most of the time. In reality, the eCommerce industry has easy solutions for these worries.
A more prominent solution that the industry will see more of this year is known as click and collect. This means that consumers shop online through an app, pay through the app, and pick up the item at the nearest physical location for collection. Though this process requires some in-store activity, it's still considered an app purchase since the sale and transaction was made through the mobile platform. This solution allows users to shop in their preferred online fashion but reduces the anxiety of delivery through physical pick-up. The reality is that people just prefer to shop online, and retailers who want to continue to dominate the market need to answer these preferences with the development of a mobile app.
Millennials and Gen Z hold the majority of spending power and have continued to invest more and more in mobile-only brands. These brands don't have physical locations and run their business 100% online, like popular fashion e-retailers ASOS and Revolve. Regardless of not having physical locations, these companies make billions of dollars every year through strategic mobile approaches.
The growth of these platforms is likely influenced by popular apps, Instagram and Pinterest. These apps were once photo-sharing platforms, but have grown into e-commence marketplaces, connecting users with thousands of online products. The growth rates of these platforms are continuing to skyrocket, so experts predict this is not a trend, but the new norm for retailers.
If your business is in retail, and you don’t currently have a mobile app, you should definitely look into developing one. Not only will you expand your reach with a wider audience, but now is the time to get ahead and dive into the future of retail.
Ready to be the next big retailer? Invemo LLC has over 10 years of experience developing highly-rated mobile apps in record time. We know what consumers want and can build your brand's personal vision into a high performing platform for mobile customers. For more information on our services, visit our website.
