Group buying trend grows in mobile channel
It is no secret that mobile commerce has shown considerable growth over the past few years and, in that time, Affiliate Window has reported a vast increase in traffic and transactions using mobile devices across its own network.
While we have seen a number of advertisers within the retail arena benefit from developing their mobile presence, one sector that has really lent itself to mobile commerce is group buying.
With consumers regularly turning to mobile devices to access their emails, the group buying sector has seen significant traction through mobile publishers. With 41% of emails being opened on a mobile device, it has been widely predicted that by the end of this year, more commercial emails will be read on mobile devices than desktop.
Additionally, there has been an increase in mobile display activity across the sector with advertising within some of the most popular apps proving to be a successful route to market for sending out the latest deals.
With this change in how consumers are interacting with their mobile devices to get the latest deals in the most convenient manner, group buying has been at the forefront of mobile growth. As a sector it over indexes against what we have seen across the network on average. We are typically seeing around 14% of sales generated through mobile devices, with the majority of these (7.5%) through tablets. The group buying sector turns this split on its head, with some 25.5% of all transactions being generated via mobile handsets.
Apart from studying the type of device that consumers are turning to in order to transact, it is also possible to look at the actual handsets that are driving this growth. With the ability to target specific offerings by device, it is possible for advertisers to offer bespoke deals to consumers based on the handset they are using and the offers that are typically purchased through these devices. The iPhone leads the way with 56.5% of handset sales through this device.
With email being more quickly and readily picked up via mobile handsets, publishers sending out newsletters have seen a high proportion of transactions generated through mobile devices. Voucher code sites have seen almost 20% of all transactions generated through handsets while publishers embarking on display activity (within apps and across high-traffic portals) have seen over 40% of all transactions take place on a mobile handset.
According to Matt Swan, client strategist for Affiliate Window, "With the ongoing shift in consumer trends and purchasing habits, it is clear that some sectors are increasingly suited to mobile advertising. The group buying sector is certainly one of these, and can expect to see further growth through mobile commerce in the coming months."
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