SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - May 24, 2011) - JiWire, the leading location-based mobile media company reaching the on-the-go audience, today announced its latest Mobile Audience Insights Report, which examines location-based engagement, mobile shopping behaviors, connected device trends and adoption, and public Wi-Fi trends. The latest report found that 79 percent of the on-the-go audience is comfortable making purchases on their mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets. Consumers are increasingly out of the home and office and are becoming more confident making purchases on their primary mobile device, even for big ticket items over $1,000.
Consumers Open to Purchases on Mobile Devices or Tablets
People are relying more on their smartphone or tablet to do business, stay connected and even shop while on-the-go. While smaller purchases are more easily accepted, fifty percent of respondents are confident spending more than $100 on a purchase from their device -- nearly 20 percent are even comfortable with purchases over $500.
Mobile Shopping Drives In-Store Purchasing
As part of the mobile shopping experience, a majority of consumers are also spending time researching future purchases on mobile phones and other devices. Seventy-one percent researched future purchases on their mobile device and then made a purchase either online or within a store at a later date. Specifically:
- 31 percent researched a purchase on their device before buying it in-store at a later date
- 40 percent researched a purchase on their device before buying it online at a later date, up 19 percent from Q4
- 20 percent researched and made purchases from their device
- Travel, entertainment and retail are the top researched and purchased products and services
"As mobile technology evolves and people begin to rely more on their smartphones and tablets, location-based services and content have truly become a necessity for the on-the-go audience," said David Staas, senior vice president of marketing at JiWire. "What we are seeing with the evolution of mobile commerce is how the combination of mobile and location is transforming shopping behavior, enabling mobile advertising to drive in-store, brick and mortar consumer engagement. We are seeing this trend take place across a broad range of retailers and service providers, from national brands to local mom and pop deals."
Consumers Want Local Deals, Like Sharing Deals
Similar to last quarter's results, which revealed that location-based ads are driving mobile shopping, the latest survey shows that 72 percent of the mobile audience purchases local deals. Forty-four percent of those respondents purchased local deals at least once a month. Though younger age groups are thought to be the early adopters, deal-purchasing behavior is relatively consistent across age groups and gender -- those aged 25 to 44 are most likely to purchase a local deal. Additionally, 62 percent of respondents are sharing local deals with friends. Results show that more than half of "Gen Xers," aged 45 and older are sharing local deals with friends.
Demand for Tablets
The demand for tablets continues to increase as 71 percent of survey respondents either own or intend to purchase a tablet. When purchasing a tablet, 58 percent of those respondents prefer an iOS operating system, while only 4 percent prefer an Android-based operating system. Additionally, 31 percent have no OS preference, ultimately opening opportunities for tablet makers to attract new users.
Evolving Mobile Landscape
For the first time, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, an Android-based tablet, has made the top 10 list in the U.S. when it comes to connected device trends and adoption. Although Apple devices continue to hold marketshare with the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad holding the top three spots, there has been a continuing decline of iOS usage from quarter to quarter, decreasing 4.1 percent since Q4. There is also continued growth in the Android market with several new devices -- Samsung Galaxy, HTC Glacier and HTC Hero -- in the top 10.
Unlike U.S., in the U.K. the iPhone is the only Apple device to lose marketshare, decreasing 6 percent since Q4. Additionally, for Q1 in the U.K., iOS was down 3.6 percent, whereas the Android OS was up 1.3 percent.
About JiWire's Mobile Audience Insights Report
JiWire's Mobile Audience Insights Report is based on data from approximately 315,000 public Wi-Fi locations, as well as surveying more than 5,000 customers randomly selected across JiWire's Wi-Fi Media Channel from January 2011 to March 2011. JiWire serves advertisements to over 30,000 public Wi-Fi locations in North America and we record data from every ad request. This report is based on the ad request data we collected from January - March 2011. Quarterly public Wi-Fi location rankings and business model distributions are based on the final day of the quarter.
About JiWire
JiWire is the leader in connecting advertisers to today's on-the-go audience, using the world's largest location-based interactive media channel. JiWire's platform enables advertisers to identify and deliver ads to audience segments based on a person's physical location while taking the venue type and brand into account. JiWire also allows device manufacturers and wireless broadband network hosts to leverage advertising as a currency for wireless Internet access. With a goal of engaging users however they connect to the Internet while on the go, JiWire provides a cross-channel solution that extends location-based targeting to multiple devices, from laptops to smartphones, across content channels from Wi-Fi to the Internet to mobile. JiWire recently announced its international expansion into the UK, partnering with British Telecom to extend its media channel to more than 4,000 locations. For more information, please visit www.JiWire.com or call (415) 877-4711.
