Do you remember when you wanted a fixed telephone line in your house or mobile just to make telephone calls rather than access the Internet? The world has certainly changed in the last 17 years since the rollout of Broadband in the UK and so has the enterprise’s position on their offerings. Now most companies are moving to become a Data Provider or Creator with the net result that calls/texts are now becoming free and consumers only paying for the data. This new data focus is certainly consumer driven however consumption patterns are changing too as technology preferences stabilise.
In a recent report entitled “future in focus 2017” by Comscore (although focused on the US market) it highlighted a range of interesting statistics. The US Smartphone market is reaching saturation at 81%; desktop usage is declining and the tablet market flattening (this is in direct correlation to the increase in 4.5inch + mobile sales).
Since 2013 Smartphones have seen a +99% increase in usage, Tablets +26% and Desktops -8%. The average person is now spending 2hrs 51 minutes a day on their mobile which equates to 71% of their digital experience (61% in the UK) and the biggest increase in apps are ones which improve real time behaviours i.e. hailing cabs, traffic navigation, making shopping/selling fun, mobile wallets etc. (Waze, Uber, Wish, Venmo, Lyft etc).
However even though everyone is favouring mobile the sales conversation rate is still lower than traditional or tablet channels (although Mobile is the only medium seeing constant growth) so it may be a few years before smartphones take the lion share or possibly not.
Remember mobiles have only been finding their footing over the last few years and have now come of age. It is claimed that certain markets have now reached saturation and the processing power (the new 2017 handsets will be able to handle AR/VR) being offered is similar to PCs. Also with the increased form factor (4.5 inch +) we will suddenly see smartphones displacing tablets upon replacement. Don’t also forget that the increased security (Biometrics), waterproofing and high end cameras are making these devices a one stop shop. Therefore the time is right to start developing for mobile, in the past responsive sites were top priority, however this probably explains why purchases are still being made on traditional channels. We constantly talk about the digital native and then design applications which are responsive and as we know “one size does not fit all”. In the future advances will be seen by those whose customer journey is built from the bottom up with small form factors in mind and not the desktop. There are very few sites that really get it right today so the opportunity if out there for the taking
Innovation Today 