The closer we get to our mobile devices – the closer they get to us. Who you ask? Everyone and anyone who wants to sell us something, generate mind share, or impact our buying decisions. In technologies past, such as the traditional Internet, that would have been a bad thing; with mobile we’ll welcome it.
This new generation of mobile devices has become so intimate to us that our reliance on them is unlike anything we have ever seen in the modern world. They combine all our communications, pictures, videos, navigation, banking, organization and now buying in one pocket sized PC.
As a result of the confluence of all these things as well as the nature of the device, it has the potential to become the biggest channel for commerce in the world. The evidence of this can be seen in the changes that are taking place right now in the way in companies interact with consumers.
Just this week Internet giant eBay announced the launch of its new iPad app, which focuses on TV Commerce. TV Commerce takes product placement a step further and allows you to actively buy what you see in the show you’re watching; items such as a sports jersey, a suit or a toaster oven. This is aimed at the 86% of tablet and mobile phone users who use their devices while watching TV. A path to purchasing everything our favorite TV characters are wearing, using or drinking has now been created.
In another effort to better target consumers, Verizon announced they would join a geo-targeted advertising program. This means that if you’re using Verizon’s wireless network to access the Internet (on your mobile device), the ads you start seeing will be targeted to your city and perhaps even your neighborhood.
Last, during the biggest shopping week of the year, with Black Friday upon us, retailers are getting to consumers before they even enter the stores. By offering “mobile-only” deals aimed at shoppers who may be online or on their way to their favorite retailer, this allows online retailers to compete the more well-established, brick-and-mortar competitors. Shoppers utilizing their mobile devices to compare prices in store will be able to find unique online deals and capitalize on alerts for offers from retail apps they are already using.
All of the examples of the ways mobile devices will begin to impact commerce are a welcomed transition from the invasive and unwanted advertising and spam we suffered through for years on the traditional Internet. The ads are more relevant, they allow us to find better deals and the exact products we want at the time we see them.
This can be seen in real estate through the popularity of location and mapped based searching. Showing your clients the properties they want to see on the device that they want to see them on is all the more vital.
For more information visit: www.mobilerealestateid.com.
Seth Kaplan is the president of Mobile Real Estate ID. Contact him directly at Seth@mobilerealestateid.com or, for more information, visit www.mobilerealestateid.com.
