Everybody knows what consumers are expecting from mobile phone payment options: saving time, saving money thanks to promotions and/or loyalty programs, and a highly personalized and easy paying experience. But who exactly are these consumers that are expecting these benefits?
They are definitely the early adopters, who already use other types of applications for finding offers and for previewing products to be acquired in order to move through store aisles more quickly once in shops. They are also people who tend to make impulse buys as well as plan a spending budget. They are obviously already addicted to their mobile phones: the 21% of Americans who prefer the latest smartphone model to buying new brand name shoes – these are the results from the Telenav study on mobile behavior. And, it is precisely this study that demonstrates how one of the main targets of mobile payment services is mothers, especially the so-called “geek moms”.
Geek moms are, in some ways, very similar to other potential users of mobile payment apps searching for online deals and coupons. But the inclination of mothers who have adopted the everyday use of new technologies and the advantages that they reap from it is on the rise. More than 46 million American mothers have downloaded coupons from their smartphones in 2013 (eMarketer Report, 2014). The geek mom is also often the one in the family who plans acquisitions using tools available through applications. At the same time, however, once in stores, she is also the most likely to succumb to impulse or spontaneous acquisitions. So these are the main reasons why mobile commerce is now trying to capture this profile of consumer. American geek moms are, in fact, adopting this type of technology faster than every other type of user. As well, these mothers are the most capable in rendering online activity into real concrete acquisitions. 41% of them actually spend on average 43% more in shops after having researched acquisitions initially online. Nevertheless the real key for success in the definitive conquest of geek moms as loyal clients of mobile commerce apps seems to be the personalization of offers as well as services that also provide information.
An interesting case in point is the Scan&Go app by Wal-Mart that offers nutritional information, prices, provenance of products and also the possibility to memorize a preference profile (that includes options like allergy alerts for certain ingredients) in order to “suggest” best products (or those to be avoided) via mobile.
