An Adobe Mobile study reveals that the vast majority of mobile consumers have made a purchase via their mobile device, with only 38 percent claiming they have not bought anything in the consumer products and shopping category.

That means that 62 percent of consumers have used their device to make a purchase in the consumer products and shopping category and that is a grand opportunity for brands and retailers, especially with the upcoming holidays. Retailers and brands need to make sure they provide consumers with a good mobile experience to make mcommerce revenue.

 “We found in our mobile business-to-business survey just published in August that a majority of retailers are still in the planning stages,” said Sheila Dahlgren, senior director of product marketing at Adobe, San Jose, CA. “However, with the high penetration of users in the media and entertainment category, companies should be much further along in their mobile deployments.

“Marketers in the media and entertainment category would need to be looking beyond just their strategy and planning to actual deployment,” she said.

The Adobe Mobile Experience Survey: What Users Want from Media, Finance, Travel and Shopping” was conducted by Keynote Services from Aug. 25-30 to help businesses gain insights on how to improve the mobile user experience.

The Adobe study measured mobile user characteristics, preferences, satisfaction levels and other experiential factors across four key consumer categories: consumer products and shopping, financial services, media and entertainment, and travel.

Media and entertainment
Adobe found that media and entertainment is the highest-penetrated mobile category, both by number of users and time spent

In fact, only 3 percent of those surveyed said they did not interact with media content on a mobile device in the last six months.

“Interaction with the mobile content varies across industries,” Ms. Dahlgren said. “Delivering a positive user experience is paramount to growing the channel. 

“For example in the consumer products and shopping category, adding full-screen imagery with zoom, spin and videos can improve the overall user experience,” she said. “Also, incorporating simple interfaces with minimal navigation and utilizing touch screen gestures also contribute to improving the mobile user experience.”

Despite their differences, media and entertainment and consumer products and shopping drew the highest percentage of satisfied mobile users out of the four categories, with 89 percent and 85 percent respectively.

Accessing maps and directions is the No. 1 mobile activity, with 81 percent of respondents citing so.

Media-related activities were high on the list as well with social networking at 76 percent, accessing local information at 73 percent and reading news at 68 percent.

“Early adopters are paving the way for greater adoption of services and behavior that, until recently, have been the purview of desktops,” Ms. Dahlgren said. “As the pace of smartphone adoption quickens globally, businesses have to be invested in the channel and move beyond the planning stages to start executing and gain some learning on how users are interacting with the mobile channel.”

Reviewing bank information
The top mobile finance activity is reviewing bank account information, with 67 percent of respondents claiming that.

Entertainment such as CDs, games and DVDs comprise the second largest mobile purchase category, accounting for 43 percent of those surveyed.

Males 30-49 years-old tend to be the most active content consumers and mobile purchasers.

Men outspend women, with 31 percent having spent $499 or more through their mobile device in the last 12 months, versus 23 percent of women who did so.

Based on the findings, here are Ms. Dahlgren’s recommendations for marketers:

1) Where possible utilize existing investments, tools, technologies and applicable know-how from desktop-delivery approaches to develop mobile-optimized experiences.

2) Do not be myopic and focus on narrow user segments. As smartphone adoption gains wider momentum, differences in user engagement will evolve as well.

5) There won’t be one device that fits 100 percent of consumers. Therefore, there are inherent development costs that must be evaluated for the mobile channel. 

6) In many instances a hybrid approach that leverages mobile-optimized sites and downloadable applications may be the best option.

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Commerce Daily