ZMOT and influence of mobile on retail sales

Today we discussed in class the topic of the ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth). A term Google invented to emphasize the importance of online presence of a retailer in the buying decision of the consumer. This topic reminded me of a study that was published by Deloitte a year ago on the influence of mobile on retail store sales. 

The key takeaways were the following:

• Smartphones currently influence 5.1 percent of annual retail store sales, translating into $159 billion in forecasted sales for 2012
• Deloitte anticipates mobile’s influence, based on consumers’ smartphone use, will grow to represent 19 percent of total store sales by 2016, amounting to $689 billion in mobile-influenced sales
• Direct mobile commerce sales will pass the $30 billion mark by that time

The study emphasizes that consumers' store-related mobile activities are contributing to (and not

taking away from) in-store sales. The research indicates that smartphone shoppers are 14

percent more likely to convert and make a purchase in the store than non-smartphone users.

This means that mobile is an important tool for retailers to incrementally drive traditional in-store

sales. Mobile allows are retailer to directly communicate with the end-consumer. Retailers can use the mobile channel to strengthen the relationship with the consumer by increasing engagement and loyalty. It is probably only a matter of time before we see a larger adoption of loyalty apps which allow retailers to provide tailored advertisement and promotions to their customer base to take advantage of the ZMOT.

Rutger Flohil