Google is out with a new survey entitled "The Mobile Movement" that looks at how we use our smartphones. The short answer is, a lot -- at home, at work, while consuming other media, and especially while shopping.
The findings should be a wake-up call to anyone who uses the web to sell a product or service. Currently, about 30% of cell phones in the United States are smartphones, and that rate is growing fast. It's estimated that a majority of U.S. cell phone users will have smartphones by 2012.
The Google survey found that 74% of smartphone shoppers make a purchase as a result of using their smartphones to help with shopping, while 88% of those who look for local information on their smartphones take action within a day.
And there are these two figures from the survey that I found most fascinating. The important number here is 79:
79% of smartphone consumers use their phones to help with shopping, from comparing prices, finding more product info to locating a retailer...
but…79% of businesses surveyed say they don’t have a mobile-optimized website.
That’s a huge disconnect from the people who are ready to buy from you. Would you have signage in your store that only 21% of your customers could see? Or print a marketing piece that nearly eight out of ten people can’t read? That’s what you’re doing when you ask smartphone users to use a website that’s designed for viewing on a computer monitor.
So what can you do to reach these connected, active smartphone consumers? Here are a few suggestions:
Create a mobile version of your website that’s optimized for smartphone viewing. Focus on features that are most useful to customers and elements that are most likely to attract visitors from your search engine links.
Design your own smartphone application. One that puts some of the most-useful features of your website in a branded package that lets you control the experience with a great marketing platform that's also a useful tool for your customers.
Serving the smartphone audience should be a key part of your website design and marketing plan. Without it, the mobile movement might just leave you behind.
