Advertising on the Mobile Platform

Grocery shoppers are mobile savvy and to succeed with the modern consumer, retailers need a presence on all digital platforms.

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau and reported in The Food Institute, mobile advertising spending more than doubled in the first half of 2013.  U.S. mobile-ad spending totaled an estimated $3 billion in the first half of the year, compared with $1.2 billion in the first half of 2012.

Given how much consumers use mobile devices, the advertising shift to mobile seems an obvious and beneficial move for retailers. According to EMarketer, U.S. adults are expected to spend two hours and 21 minutes a day on mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets, compared to 2010 when they spent just 24 minutes on mobile devices. 

However, retailers should beware that this newer form of advertising, brings many challenges. Internet browsers on a computer use “cookies,” which allow advertisers to follow the user as they browse the web. Mobile devices don’t support “cookies.” There is no standard to track mobile users and the industry is still working on finding a way to give advertisers the data they need.

Another challenge mobile ads face is customer feedback. According to a study by Forrester, many customers view mobile ads as annoying and cluttering. Two-thirds of people stated that mobile ads were more annoying than TV ads and 70% stated that in-app ads are “interruptive,”.

But while there may be challenges to face, we still urge Retailers to experiment and use this space. Grocery shoppers are mobile savvy and to succeed with the modern consumer, retailers need a presence on all digital platforms.