go-Digital Blog on Digital Marketing

Economically speaking, the US and Canada were both characterized by “firming momentum” in early 2014, according to the International Monetary Fund’s “World Economic Outlook.” In 2014, North America will remain the largest single contributor to the global ad economy and represent 35.6% of the worldwide total, eMarketer estimates, as regional spending reaches $193.86 billion. Though faster-growing markets—notably Asia-Pacific and Latin America—are gradually gaining share, between now and 2018 those increases will come chiefly at the cost of Western Europe, while North America’s share will be essentially constant.

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The relationship between consumers and their banks is in a period of dramatic upheaval brought on by the rapid pace of technological innovation. Bricks-and-mortar banks are losing relevance among consumers — particularly millennials. 

Banks face looming competition from tech giants such as Square, PayPal, Apple and Google. Fifty percent of North Americans say they would be likely to bank with Square should the company offer a banking service, for example. To stay relevant, banks will have to rethink the channels through which they reach their customers and the services that they provide to them. 

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Thanks to mobile devices, consumers now start researching retail products way before they step into a store to buy, according to a June 2014 study by Ninth Decimal. The research found that 81% of US mobile users turned to their devices to research retail items at home or work—meaning before heading to a brick-and-mortar—while 19% engaged with mobile during a shopping trip.

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The average lead time for researching retail products via mobile among smartphone and tablet users varied by cost, with research for items priced at $1,000 or more starting 45 days in advance of buying, on average. Even for the lowest price range though, $1 to $49, researc! h typica lly began about 10 days before the purchase was completed.

Likely a result of their out-of-store research habits, mobile users were most likely to engage with mobile retail ads before they shopped, cited by 73% of respondents. In comparison, the remaining 27% were more apt to respond to ads on their mobile devices while on a shopping trip or in-store.

Retailers serving ads that include discounts and sales may stand the best chance at grabbing mobile researchers’ attentions. Fully 60% of mobile device users said they were likely to respond to retail-related mobile ads that contained information about discounts and sales, the most popular response by a long shot. Product reviews (36%) and product information (35%) rounded out the top three.

Consumers spent more on housing and transportation but less on apparel and entertainment in 2013, details the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in a recent data release. While average expenditures by each consumer unit (families, financially independent single persons, or groups who share expenses) fell by less than 1% year-over-year to $51,100, the allocation of that money did change – in some cases quite considerably. › Continue reading