From the "Brick" to the Boutique: Mobile Shopping on the Rise

A study by FGI Research shows that over 30% of consumers polled shop online using mobile devices. Phones, it seems, do a lot more than help users keep in touch with friends. A bit of history shows how far mobile has come since the technology emerged.

From the Brick…

In 1984, Motorola unveiled the first cellular phone: nicknamed “the brick,” it weighed two pounds, offered a half-hour of talk time per battery charge and sold for $3,995. In twenty-six years, mobile technology has transformed at warp speed. Not only are most devices the size of matchbooks, but phones are inexpensive and readily available. Some boast a battery life of up to a week, and features like games, unlimited texts, and Internet are standard. Through texting, many companies have found a new avenue for marketing to consumers. Some users have even started to shop online –with their phones. FGI turned to SmartPanel to get insight in this trend.

What Should Drive Your Business Decision: Intuition or Insight?

Malcolm Gladwell, in his much-celebrated book, Blink, advises people to go with their gut (which is based on experience) when deciding things quickly. As is often the case, a competing viewpoint (and book) has arrived to suggest another approach, at least in certain circumstances.

Michael Mauboussin, in his new book, Think Twice, advocates for a more measured approach to making certain decisions. He argues that we can put too much stock in our personal intuition and experience… and not enough in rigorous, fact-based, contemplative methods. Specifically, he calls us to engage the “wisdom of crowds,” which in the marketing research world means online communities and social media mining; statistical models, such as regression, conjoint, and MaxDiff; and best practices of data collection, which includes online surveys, custom online panels, RDD telephone data collection, and more.