As the festive season approaches, more and more shoppers are going ‘mobi’ to avoid the mad holiday rush.
“Based on the astounding uptake in our mobi services, Santa’s little helper this Christmas will be mobile shopping platforms,” says Gary Novitzkas, CEO of leading online retailer, kalahari.com.
When kalahari.com launched its mobile platform in March this year, it recorded growth of 40% within its first month. Since then, during the period January – September, the mobile retail site has increased visits by over 200%.
Over 70% of South Africa’s population own a mobile phone and mobile internet access is fast surpassing PC internet access making mobile a channel that cannot be ignored as an important commercial channel. The FNB Mobility Report released in February this year conservatively estimates the mobile Internet universe to be at six million mobile Internet browsers strong at the very least. It’s no surprise then that a recent Mobile Shopping Survey conducted by kalahari.com not only shows that 51% of connected South Africans access the mobile Internet every day, but that they also have intent to transact. In fact, 26% of respondents have already made a purchase and a further 53% are considering it.
“Mobile shopping is still a small base of overall transaction volume but we expect it to overtake PC as the most sought after way to access the internet and transact in coming years. As an online retailer, this has resulted in another channel to market and therefore a slightly different sales platform,” says Novitzkas.
Shoppers are certainly embracing the convenience of mobile shopping this festive season “Top selling categories on our mobi site this festive season are books, then DVD’s, then games followed by technology products” As shoppers become more comfortable with mobile commerce it is likely that higher priced items such as electronics will start to dominate sales, as is the case online.
“Our aim is to alleviate the stress of Christmas shopping by making it as convenient as possible to access online content wherever you are, an extensive range of over 8 million products at the best prices. ‘Shopping on the move’ allows shoppers to compare prices, research gift ideas, redeem electronic vouchers and watch for special deals all in the spirit of saving precious time and money,” concludes Novitzkas.
Some tips to help you shop smartly with your mobile phone this festive season:
- Product reviews – do your research and pull up the reviews of products before purchasing to avoid buyer’s remorse.
- Price comparisons – go in store with your mobile device and compare prices using kalahari.com. Consumers regularly find prices on kalahari.com exceptionally lower than those in store.
- Pre-order your gifts – be prepared and pre-order goods that have not even hit the shelves yet. This way you avoid disappointment and won’t miss out.
- Keep organised – consider an app to keep track of your receipts & one to keep your holiday shopping lists handy. This will ensure your mobi purchases are organised and help you avoid overspending.
- Use retailers that have a dedicated mobile site as it’s quicker to search and find what you’re looking, and the site is formatted to be read easily on a small screen.
