Living in the mobile era has forever changed the way we shop, communicate and live. It’s forced the consumer industry into multitudes of real-time online micro-moments that have become a golden opportunity for brands to influence our everyday decisions.
Smartphones provide us with immediate gratification and provide us a platform by which we can make impulse decisions about our purchases and consumer choices. Whether we encounter a surprise moment or a planned event, our mobile lifestyle has opened the doorway for faster, immediate results.
The retail moments that matter
Shopping micro-moments often start when people have a need or desire to purchase a product and they begin thinking of ideas. This leads to research and eventually purchase. These moments tend to fall into one of three categories:
- I-need-some-ideas moments happen when people have general awareness of the product category they’re interested in, such as living room furniture, but they haven’t yet narrowed down their choices to an exact product.
- Which-one’s-best moments—a.k.a. consideration moments—happen when people turn to their phones in short bursts of activity to compare prices, brands and specs, and read product reviews from trusted sources.
- I-want-to-buy-it moments happen when the research is done and it’s decision time. People make a choice about which brand or retailer to buy from, and whether to buy online or in-store.
With these moments in mind, how can you ensure that you’re there for shoppers?
