Surplus Furniture - Mobile Flyers!

For those of us with mobile phones, it's not surprising to hear that mobile phones have overtaken desktop computers when it comes to web traffic (according to ComScore). This stat certainly isn't a surprise for retailers, as they have watched their mobile web traffic increase month over month, year over year. Google has even responded by implementing harsher SEO rankings, favoring mobile friendly websites. So how have companies responded to this changing landscape?

For most retailers, this means a duo world for advertising, print and mobile. Nielsen study shows 79% of households browse digital flyers and print flyers each week. So consumers are immersed in both. IKEA for instance, has extended their flyer to mobile, while maintaining the same print levels year over year. London Drugs has also transitioned to a mobile flyer, while maintaining the same flyer quantities year over year. Surplus Furniture has followed suite, transitioning all printed media to the digital/mobile landscape. What will the next three year look like? Retailers expect to see a dramatic shift, once the public becomes comfortable with the digital space. Retail giants like Canadian Tire still feel the printed flyer is "routine and a comfort" for consumers, citing an increase to their flyer printing over the years. Brandspark International stated that consumers find printed flyers easier to navigate and more time efficient. Yet, last year, shoppers consulting printed flyers was down 7%, while the mobile flyer had a 5% increase. One in Four Canadians between 18 - 54 read more digital flyers than print flyers when compared to last year. So in case your curious, below is a list of the top digital flyer apps/websites: FLIPP: So far, FLIPP is the leader in mobile flyers. Since November 2013, the app has 15 million downloads. FLIPP has 50 million weekly views, featuring 800 retailers, in 140,000 locations. The local Toronto company just announced that they are going global with their app, a 61 million dollar venture. With detailed product descriptions/linking, website plugins and in-depth consumer analytics, it's no wonder this app is leading the mobile charge. Reebe is a great mobile flyer app that has seen 2 Million downloads since 2013. The Reebee app allows retailers to engage the mobile customer while providing a robust analytics component, allowing retailers to target and refine their offers. Yellow Pages has entered the mobile space with their own flyer app called YP Shopwise. Its a robust mobile flyer app that draws from (and benefits from) the many Yellow Pages owned properties (ie: Red Flag Deals and SmartCanucks). The app allows retailers to create business profiles, tap into Yellow Pages analytics and take advantage of consumer targeted tools. Tiendeo, the biggest international mobile app, Tiendeo is headquartered in Spain, and currently has 62,000 active stores, 1,000 flyers and over 700,000 users. Definitely a driving Save.ca A Metroland product, Save.ca started as a website allowing retailers to post their flyer digitally. It now has launched their new mobile version, which allows retailers to expand into the mobile space. The app is very robust, allowing retailers to tap into the Metroland properties with 2.8 million members nationally. Cost / Benefits So what are the costs/benefits for a retailer to advertise on mobile devices? Everyone knows print is expensive and time consuming. For instance, to print and distribute a flyer with a local newspaper, the process could take several months to plan and prepare. Not too mention the high cost associated with paper, printing, and distributing. This isn't even taking the environmental effects into consideration. Mobile advertising is quick, and relatively inexpensive. For instance, once the flyer is designed, it could be uploaded and distributed on mobile devices within just a few days. The cost will vary depending on which mobile app you choose of course, but all are relatively inexpensive when compared to print. Some mobile apps are free to use, while others have a cost per engagement. One of the biggest benefits for retailers are the consumer insights. For instance, on the FLIPP app, retailers have access to view the postal codes of the users viewing the flyer, they can also see what items users engaged with (or purchased), and they can see how many users had visited their location. Far superior than print data. So has a mobile campaign been tested? Absolutely. Results are key, so some (forward thinking retailers) have already started to test the mobile/digital space. For instance, RONA, the Montreal based company, decided to scrap their printed flyer for one week and did a nationwide digital test. This resulted in doubling their sales over last year, silencing the internal skeptics. So what will the advertising landscape look like in 10 years? 5 years? Print is still the easiest for the mass audience, flyers are dropped off at the door, and all the consumer needs to do is open the paper. Where as mobile takes some efforts on the part of the consumer. If that hurdle can be overcome, then the tides may shift. But is it something that will wane with the aging population, or has technology not caught up yet. Either way, it is clear that mobile advertising is going to continue making great strides in the consumers day to day buying cycle, while increasing in the retailers budget.