Nearly half of Australia’s population uses a mobile phone to shop online — but the same study also suggests customers are using their smartphones in-store too. One of those trends is snapping a photo, in-store, often to save the item for the future or to send as an idea to a friend. So how can small businesses capitalise on this new trend?
The study, sent to us by an industry partner and conducted by Bronto, suggests that 28 percent of Australians use their smartphone to snap a photo of a product in store, making it the second most common option for in-store shoppers by just a single percentage point.
Baby Boomers are in general less likely to use their smartphone, but the age group most uses a smartphone to snap a photo to save for later compared to the other categories in the survey. Millennials tend to snap the most photos, but they are also more likely to look up product info or reviews and compare prices.
Women also tend to tend to snap photos of products more then men. The study suggests 35 percent of females take snapshots of products in-store. For males, that number is only 21 percent.
So what can small businesses do to use that data in their business? First, make stores photo-friendly. Don’t discourage the practice of snapping photos in store, because that customer could later come back to buy. Make sure products are easy to access and not locked in cases or difficult to reach or otherwise photograph.
That image doesn’t have to only exist on that potential customer’s smartphone either. By creating a hashtag relevant to your products, small businesses can encourage customers to share that image, which could bring more people into the store. Hang a sign with the hashtag encouraging shares, or even host a monthly contest where customers enter by sharing an in-store photo with a hashtag. Businesses can also promote the new hashtag on their own social media networks.
Businesses will also want to factor in their target demographic too. The study concluded that younger generations, parents and those in a higher income category were more likely to use their smartphone while shopping in-store.
Smartphones aren’t just for online shopping — many customers use them while browsing brick-and-motar stores too. Small businesses should understand the trend in order to bring more customers in their store and make taking photos easier for current customers.
If you would like to discuss the latest trends for your small businesses, reach out to the Photo Direct Customer Service team at (03) 9894 1644.