Almost 4 million men and women in the UK are keen to hear from retailers by text at least once a month, reveals a white paper published by Textlocal, following an in depth survey of the views of 2000 UK mobile consumers and 330 businesses of all sizes.
According to the study – Communicating with the Mobile Shopper – 38% of consumers claim that discounts or promotions from a retailer are the most important messages to receive, while 41% cited confirmation of a transaction as the most useful to receive as a text.
The report also finds that retailers will be targeting 2.17 million retail opt-ins in the UK on a weekly basis between 1 November and Christmas Day, with a peak of 3.7 million people in Week 49. And the rewards are high. Consumers themselves suggest that between November 1st and Christmas Day the they will spend on average £978 million in mobile transactions.
The study also sets a baseline on m-commerce, suggesting that There are 29.41 million m-commerce users in the UK now (or 34% of total mobile subscriptions), increasing to 38.38 million in 2016, accounting for 45% of total mobile subscriptions. The average m-commerce user will spend £224.75 in 2013 and £392.42 in 2016. Or to break that figure down, the average m-commerce user will almost double their monthly spend between 2013 and 2016, from £18.73 to £32.70,respectively
“From notifying customers about upcoming sales and promotions to facilitating loyalty schemes or confirming delivery dates, there are many ways that retailers, and indeed many other organisations selling direct to the public, will benefit from adding SMS to their communication channels. We provide insight and advice about the methods available in this market leading research,” says Textlocal’s Rob Townsend.
“The advantages of sending text messages to customer’s mobile handsets are clear, it provides a direct path to the consumer, but more importantly it provides a tremendous opportunity for retailers to trigger interactions that otherwise might not have happened. Presently almost 30% of retailers believe mobile is the most effective channel for them, with a further 30% expecting mobile to become the most effective channel.”
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