MobileWebsiteWatch

In a fantastic and comprehensive article in the Wall Street Journal today, reporter Nick Wingfield illuminates a very prescient analogy of the mobile world today: in the same way that companies were once eager to deploy laptops to executives and technicians to increase mobility, today smart phones are stepping up to take over that role thanks to the significant advantages they have in power and portability.

This is not to say that the laptop will got eh way of the dodo, but the truth is, more often than not business travelers leave their laptops in hotel rooms and rental cars while going to meetings and about routine business activities armed only with their lighter, and more portable smart phones. These souped-up cousins of ordinary cellphones, with email and other Internet functions, have become much more powerful in the past year.

For years, mobile workers have been ditching their desktop computers for laptops that they can take wherever they go. Now road warriors are starting to realize that they can get even more portability — and lots of computing punch — from smart phones…The result: Many travelers are now using smart phones the way they once used laptops — and laptops the way they once used desktop computers. Mobile workers rely on their laptops to create PowerPoint presentations and do other heavy-duty computing. But then they leave the laptops in their offices, homes or hotel rooms and take their smart phones out into the world.

Many are going even further opting to leave the laptop behind entirely and the demand for mobile devices that can handle more heavy duty business specific applications is huge.  In a report published in January by research firm In-Stat based on a survey of 1,402 technology users, roughly 52% of respondents to the In-Stat survey said they could envision using a smart phone in the future as their sole computing device.

The overall result of this shift toward mobile has obvious implications on the need for mobile web optimization.  For many Software as a Service (SaaS) companies such as Salesforce.com and Netsuite, mobile optimization has become a pressing and urgent need as well as a massive revenue driver.  Salesforce.com offers business people access to its cloud CRM software from their mobile devices with a hefty price tag, starting at about $600 per user/year–almost twice the price of a copy of Micrsoft Office.

When deployed effectively (note keyword “when”), many companies are discovering that these costs are actually a real bargain price for the massive boost in efficiency and employee accessibility to work data.  A study released by the Aberdeen Group highlights some of the advantages and audit-able improvements in efficiency and cost realized by the Salesforce solution. The supporting factor that makes mobile web optimization from both the customer and company standpoint is the explosive growth and demand for services in the mobile market.  THis growth is occurring at a breakneck pace and both has not only executives and emplyee clamouring for more and more services they can access right from their phone but from customers, investors, and interested parties of all types the world throughout.  After all, isn’t each road warrior exec who depends on their Blackberry for everything just another human who also wants: to order food, buy gifts online, book hotels and travel deals, check in on investor relations areas of compaines in their porfolios, get movie/concert tickets, or any of the million other things we all do on the Internet everyday?
Today, smartphone sales well outpace laptops, and that trend is rising faster than the switch from desktop to laptop occurred.  See graph.

With this kind of growth coupled with the rapidly increasing adoption or inclusion of data plans in most mobile contracts (many smartphones like the iPhone and the G1 cannot be used without an unlimited data plan) companies of all sizes can no longer afford not to embrace mobile both internally and externally if they hope to be competitive and in touch with their customer, consumers, employees most importantly, their competitors.

In another of their many informative and wide based market studies, Juniper Research released a paper yesterday that declares that ad-funded social networks will provide the bulk of the revenue in the mobile user generated content space, and that that number is likely to be as large as $7,300,000,000 in only 5 years.According to report author Dr Windsor Holden,

“It’s clear that we have seen an industry wide shift regarding the implementation of business models in this area. Whereas initially there was a perception that users would pay a small mobility premium to access social networks on their handsets, it rapidly became clear that to achieve truly mass adoption, it would be necessary to offer free membership and then to augment that with advertising and the sale of premium content.”

This release was well times with the news from Reuters this week a that social networking has toppled porn, the longstanding champ, as the most visited sites on the internet.  The fact that more and more people expect to be able to access social networking services on their phones should be a loud and clear call that mobile web content and functionality is in high demand.  The availability of mobile optimized content on sites of all types is increasingly the users expectation.

The ads on social networking sites can be very targeted, and they will have little value if they don’t point the mobile user to an optimized Web site that can fully engage them and actually sell them, not just some little tent of a WAP site that is not up to date or dynamic.

Below is the graph of the expected growth of the market. (Note: PCD = Personal Content Delivery)

After recieving a couple requests to push the full text of articles I have made the switch.  Happy feed reading!

In a press release from comScore today, the boom in the everyday use of mobile web to get things done was confirmed and reinforced. According to the report, in June 2008, more then 20.8 million U.S. mobile subscribers accessed search during the month, an increase of 68% over same month year prior.

“It is interesting to note that as we see the number of mobile search users increase, the frequency of activity is also growing,” observed Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore. “The number of U.S. users accessing mobile search has more than doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans. We have also seen a substantial improvement to the mobile search offerings in the U.S. market.”

As more and more people search for things on thier mobile devices, the more important it becomes to offer a mobile Web site for them to interact with.  What good is your store or office if your customers can’t even walk in the door.  The expectation of mobile optimized Web sites is now basic for most customers.

Furthermore, customers who arrive at your site via mobile search are likely your best customers.  If they search for you on their phone, and then go to your site, this means that they are on the go, away from their computers, and most likly to be seeking specfic information on how to interact with you: such as finding contact information, store locations, buying a ticket or a specific product, or reviewing information about your products and pricing while shopping.

In a June press release by Cisco, the company talks about the results of its third annual e-commerce study.  The results?  Mobile commerce is charging to the forefront and is, in fact, already a large revenue driver with massive upside potential. Dick Cantwell, vice president of IBSG’s Retail / CPG Practice said of the findings

“Mobile presents a revenue opportunity for retailers and opens up a new era of multichannel retail.  Multichannel retailing has morphed into a web of shopper touchpoints across stores, catalogs, mobile devices, and the Internet. Retailers must start offering shoppers an ‘interconnected shop’ if they are to take advantage of the mobile opportunity.”

The study notes that companies that are already executing the basics of e-commerce well can gain the trust, and the repeat business, of customers who want a fast, reliable and hassle-free and seamless mobile experience. Adding a mobile channel will be a key aspect in allowing customers to execute their transactions whenever they are so inclined and wherever they may be.

What this means in practice

As retailers already well know, customer loyalty and product familiarity are key factors in driving sales.  Let’s consider a hypothetical example: a shrewd but longtime customer in the current economy will be comparing prices online and in brick and mortar stores across retailers.  Imagine a customer shopping for a kitchen table.  She looks at prices online.  Then goes to Store A to see the product up close.  She gets back into the car and drives to Store B to see if there is anything there that might be a better value or that she likes better.  While in Store B, she pulls out her mobile device and goes to the mobile web site of Store A and calls up the product information of the first table.  She decides the Store A’s table is superior, and now can complete the transaction right on the phone and either pick up the product or have it delivered.  If Store A did not have a mobile site, they would be betting that that customer would actually return to the store, or return home and order the product from the Web site.  But the time to close the sale may be lost.  When the shopper return home to the internet, she may look for another product before completing the purchase.  She may change her mind about buying a table at all.  The ability to allow the customer a transactional experience on demand is paramount.

Retailers that scored highest and made the most money online were among the 6% who offered full mobile experiences

This major revenue expanding opportunity is made evident in the study results.

Mobile access can help retailers provide a unique, satisfying e-commerce experience. Customers expect to use their mobile devices to find stores, research products, make purchases and manage their accounts. In anticipation of this market opportunity, retailers should allow customers to access retail product information anytime, from any device. In addition, with the rise of social networking, web-based multimedia, and mobile commerce, retailers can now select from a broad range of technologies to reach customers. Monitoring what innovative companies are doing in retail and in related industries will help retailers adapt best practices to their own circumstances and strategies.

Revenue is driven in multiple areas by mobile commerce channel

Let’s recall our previous scenario and consider it from a slightly different angle.  This time, our table buyer goes to her her favorite store, Store A.  She sees some tables and is close to deciding on one, but then thinks to herself, “Store B across town sells tables too, but do I want to go all the way over there, or is this one OK?”  She is not at home in front of the computer where she could check the retailers Web site and see what products they offered but she figures she still might be able to let her fingers do the walking by trying the retailer’s web site on her phone.  Store B has a mobile web site.  It loads up quickly and allows her to easily navigate to the product she is looking for.  Now our shopper sees a table she likes while standing in a competitors store.  Being the shrewd shopper she is, she is not going to buy it before seeing it in real life, so she goes to the store locator feature

on Store B’s mobile site and sees that a new location has opened up not so far away.  She drives to Store B, sees the table, likes it and buys it.

Conclusion: Simply by providing the customer access to your web site at their convenience, on the screen they look at the most, their mobile phone, traffic and and revenue in all areas: on the regular web site, on the mobile web site, and in brick and mortar locations will experience a positive lift.

The more your customer can interact with your brand, the more likely and often they are to purchase your products.

According to the 2008 Ipsos Mendelsohn Affluent Survey (formerly Monroe Mendelsohn), the affleunet not only spend more time online per week, but also lead the way in use of the mobile web.  The report found that heads of households of affluent familys (defined as making $100,000/year or more) went online 26 times a week on a computer and 17.6 times per week on the cellphone. Overall, the spend an average of almost 24 hours a week online, constrain that to only people who make $250,000 or more, and the number jumps to 27.4 hours per week.

The study also found that the same trend applies to mobile devices. “While 40 percent of affluent households use hand-held devices to access the Internet, the percentage rises to 57 percent among those in the $250,000-plus bracket from 34 percent for those at the $100,000-149,999 level.“

The implications of this for the mobile web market as a whole is that since many web producers do not provide optimized content for mobile viewers, they are missing out on a lucrative slice of the market and will have to work double time to catch up.  Furthermore, due to this lack of mobile content, companies and providers that get in the hadset of those people sooner will benefit even more as their market share multiplies as the size of the mobile web market expands to like the internet and cell phone markets did.

The survey also found that about 10 percent of the affluent make Internet purchases using their cells or mobiles.

Remember, the study defines “the affluent” as a head of household of a household making $100K/year or more. That’s about 20% of all US households!  From there the math is strightforward.

Hello mobile web junkies!  After the labor day hiatus, mobilewebsitewatch is back on the case.

Happy reading!

Below is a great article from Geek.com.  Feature writer Brian Osborne took upon himself the challenge of taking a trip using only his trusty Blackberry 8330 Curve to make ALL travel arrangements.

Challenge
Fly to Dallas by booking my airline ticket, checking in for my flight, reserving my hotel room, and checking-in for my hotel room using only my BlackBerry 8330 Curve by Verizon Wireless. 

Participants
Volunteering themselves as guinea pigs were American Airlines and Omni Hotels. Thanks to Brian Conway for helping to set this up.

Task 1: Find and book an American Airlines Flight using BlackBerry
Time: Under 5 minutes

I went to AA.com and was happy to see the website was actually setup to be used for a mobile device. I especially liked how options were split into sections including Day of Travel and Reservations. It made it really easy to find what I needed.

I searched for flights by clicking on Change Flights under the Reservations section. After inputting my departure airport, destination and travel dates, it quickly brought up my options. One nice feature was that I could even view the seats that were available on each flight. If the flight was nose-to-nose with passengers I then had the option to choose another flight.

After finding my flight I inputted my credit card information and soon received a confirmation via email confirming my flight was booked. Overall, performance of the website was very good. The only sense of information overload I had on the small BlackBerry screen was when I was browsing flights, but there is only so much the American Airlines folks can do.

Task 2: Reserve A Room With Omni Hotels
Time: Under 5 minutes

Much like the American Airlines website, I was happy to see that the Omni Hotels mobile website didn’t have a lot of fluff and got right to the options the typical traveler would need to quickly find a hotel, get a room, and get it reserved. After clicking on Make A Reservation I was able to find a local hotel and saw that luckily there was a room available.

I was able to quickly reserve the room and also later got an email confirming the reservation. I wanted to keep this email confirmation handy for when I did my check-in online as well.

Task 3: Check-In For American Airlines Flight
Time: Under 3 minutes

24 hours before my flight I just about went to my PC to get my boarding pass when I remembered that for this trip I was performing all tasks on the Blackberry. So I grabbed it and quickly got on the AA.com website to check-in for my flight. I looked at moving seats, but unfortunately it was a full flight.

Reluctantly, I went ahead and completed my check-in. Naturally, I was a little concerned that I didn’t have a piece of paper in front of me confirming my check-in, but when I went to the airport I simply printed out my passes at the American Airlines kiosk in less than a minute.

By checking-in online I saved a lot of time in front of the kiosk even if I ended up having to print my boarding pass. Hopefully one day I’ll just be able to show the electronic boarding pass on my phone.

Before completing the booking process I was also able to sign-up for a mobile alert which would send me flight status and gate information two hours before my flight’s departure. There’s nothing better than being on your way to the airport, knowing what gate your flight is at and appreciating the fact that it is still on time.

Task 4: Check-In For Omni Hotels Room
Time: Under 3 minutes

So what’s the advantage of checking in for your hotel through your mobile phone? Well, the beautiful thing is that you won’t have to worry about your room being given to someone else. Also, when you get to the hotel the key will be waiting for you since you’ve already given the hotel all of your personal information.

When you have been on a plane for over two hours, trust me when I say that the sooner you get to your room the better. Sure enough, when I got to the hotel the room keys were waiting for me.

Summary
It’s amazing to think we have reached the point at which we no longer need to sit in front of a computer to make travel arrangements. That’s got to be some pretty sobering news for travel agents since it empowers people to book an itinerary on their own. Naturally I don’t expect Ma or Pa who travels once a year to use their mobile phone to book reservations, but you can bet the business traveler will appreciate it and that’s exactly why American Airlines and Omni Hotels have made the investment to support the mobile traveler.

Absolutely terriffic footwork, Brian!  Thanks a million!

In an article in Adweek yesterday, new findings indicate that the U.S. is expected to become the world’s largest mobile Web user by month’s end, after years of lagging behind European countries.

Data collected by mobile analytics firm Bango indicated that in July, the U.K. was “top ranked in mobile Web usage, accounting for almost 19.4 percent of the worldwide total, just ahead of the U.S., which collected about 18.9 percent of total usage. Rounding out the top five were India (10.8 percent), South Africa (8.8 percent) and Indonesia (4.1 percent).”

But according to Adam Kerr, Bango’s VP, North America, U.S. usage in recent weeks has increased 4 percent while U.K. growth was about 1 percent. When the final numbers are tallied for August, Kerr expects the U.S. to surpass the U.K. in usage with close to a 23 percent share of the total mobile Internet market, leaving the U.K. with slightly more than 20 percent.

As this is an article in AdWeek, it is quick to poitn out that “increased usage will attract more ad dollars to the space, per analysts. For example, eMarketer predicts mobile advertising will grow fourfold from $1.6 billion in 2008 to $6.4 billion in 2012, with Internet video becoming the most lucrative mobile ad channel by 2010.”

EMarketer's Projected Advertising Spending from original press release

This is all well and good but without more widespread adoption of mobile web sites, increased spending on these display ads and messages is really a bit pointless.  Nonetheless, companies in the United States that recognize the surging importance of mobile in the eyes of the US consumer today, and respond by offering optimized access tio their web services will likely stand to benefit the most.

From MocoNews via BBC: the Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has ruled that original Apple iPhone television advertisement is misleading for consumers BBC reports. The ad, which says that “all the parts of the Internet are on the iPhone”, omits the fact that the iPhone does not support Flash or Java - two programs that “form part of many online sites”, the authority says. Apple, while not issuing an official statement in its defense, claims that the ad referred to the availability of Web pages, rather than their specific appearance.

The ASA said the ad “gave a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone”, and should not be aired again.

The ruling states: “We noted Apples argument that the ad was about site availability rather than technical detail, but considered that the claims “You’ll never know which part of the internet youll need” and “all parts of the internet are on the iPhone” implied users would be able to access all websites and see them in their entirety. We considered that, because the ad had not explained the limitations, viewers were likely to expect to be able to see all the content on a website normally accessible through a PC rather than just having the ability to reach the Web site.”

This turn of event really goes to back up many of the points brought up in one of my earlier posts: “iPhone Proves Bigger Not Always Better.”  All of the companies that are featured in the ad now have mobile Web sites and/or iPhone optimized sites.  This is about all the proof you need to see that even with the newest technology both network and hardware, the desktop Internet as we know it is never coming to mobile.  Even as this technology improves, the public demand for optimized and streamlined content is not going away but rather growing. The screen is just not big enough to hope to avoid mobile view optimization.