Do you have a strategy?
I hope you do. As a mobile user, can I access your website and go through it as easily as a computer user? Have you made it easy for my relatively small device to view your website? I’d like to be able to scroll vertically and have the print large enough so I don’t have to play with my screen to see your website that obviously was not designed for my device.
The advantage of displaying your website for a smart phone cannot be underestimated. If it is too challenging there are competitive website to explore. Should you even care about a smart phone here and there? The answer is yes. In the United States a couple different studies confirm that 56% of mobile phone users have smart phones and they use them. The number is growing rapidly. In the last several years the growth has been about 10% each year. That means in a few more months we should be around 66% of mobile users having smart phones.
For the mobile user the Smartphone can do many useful things. Some of those features should be of interest to you as a business owner. One advantage, I can allow the geopositioning to function on my phone. If I’m searching for a business it will display those near me since it knows my position. Could you be one of those businesses that would like to be displayed as an option for me to see?
Another growing function of Smartphone apps is to do price comparisons in stores. If I shop your store, prices for other stores in my city or online are coming up instantly. All I have to do is scan the bar code on the item in your store? Are your shoppers smarter than you or are you displaying notices on how you can match or deal with competitive prices before the leave your store?
Yet another growing and useful area for Smartphone users is apps. They are almost as diverse as the users who download and use them. Some are free, some charge a few dollars for each app, but hopefully they provide value to the user or they will soon be trashed. Some stores create apps to make shopping easier. Health and diet areas use apps as do social and communication channels. There are apps for making dinner reservations or finding a gas station nearby. The list goes on. Any business can have an app developed. It might fit into your business strategy for the growing number of Smartphone users. How can you better connect with your Smartphone users?
What I find fascinating is our relationship with our Smartphone. They are closer to us at all times than our partners, spouses or closest friends. We can’t part from them even to go to the bathroom. The users are there, ALL OF THE TIME, if you supply the website, app or channel that is of value to them.
