According to Nielsen, 1 in 2 Americans will own a SmartPhone by the end of 2011 meaning that there will be more SmartPhones in the U.S. market than feature phones — yet in a report by Brand Anywhere and Luth Research, fewer than 5% of e-tailers have an m-commerce site (commerce site designed for mobile devices). Considering that 51% of consumers say that they are more apt to buy from a site that caters to their mobile device, it’s time to close the gap.
Of those 5%, auto parts and dealerships lead the way and typical small businesses such as liquor stores, restaurants, and florists fall in the 2% range. Grocery and specialty food stores fall to the bottom with about 1.6% of those types of e-tailers providing an m-commerce site.
For those e-tailers who do provide m-commerce, many are leaving a bad taste in their visitors’ mouths by including Flash or other features that the phone cannot display — iPhones and more than half of the Androids do not support Flash.
The message from consumers is clear: we are buying SmartPhones and we are buying online; provide us a good a experience and we will buy from you.