comScore: Multi-Platform Shoppers Can No Longer Be Ignored

By Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_) 

“Among the top 100 digital media properties, nearly one out of three monthly visitors (31 percent) only accesses that content brand via mobile platforms.”

Released on October 17, comScore’s new white paper, “Marketing to the Multi-Platform Majority” found that the mobile commerce landscape is accelerating at a rate of 30 percent year-over-year. And as evidenced by the excerpt above, this momentum is starting to significantly impact the retail landscape.

Chief among comScore’s findings was the discovery that in April 2013, more than half of all digital consumers in the U.S. accessed the Internet via both computers and mobile devices for the first time.

Multi-platform consumers, those who access the Internet via traditional desktop and mobile, represented 54 percent of digital users in July 2013. This figure was up from the 48 percent observed in February, and the 49 percent seen in March.

Notably, the number of mobile-only consumers was consistent over the six-month period, holding strong at 6 percent of digital users. Multi-platform user gains, the data shows, are being created as the share of desktop-only users declines.

This trend, comScore said, indicates that marketers and publishers need to begin to put the multi-platform user first. Further backing this conclusion was the white paper’s finding that 51 percent of digital media platform spending was competed by mobile and smartphones users in June 2013.

For more insights and analysis, we break down comScore’s “Marketing to the Multi-Platform Majority” to learn more.

eCommerce Performance Across Platforms

ComScore revealed that major eCommerce companies are now significantly expanding their reach through an emphasis on mobile-only visitors. To illustrate this trend, it provided new data on how major digital media property audiences break down across platforms.

As evidenced by the chart above, major eCommerce companies now see a majority of their reach from mobile and multi-platform audiences.

Accounting For Mobile Visitors Is A Must

The study also examined data obtained from mobile brand lift studies to reveal that mobile users targeted with unique ads are delivering benefits to major brands across industries.

The white paper found that 28 percent of brands believe their mobile campaigns increased purchasing intent. Additionally, 20 percent of respondents said that mobile campaigns aided awareness, while 22 said it bolstered the likelihood of customers to recommend their service.

Mobile Initiatives Boost Conversion

Overall, comScore determined that mobile campaigns led to more accurate audience accounting and conversion, improved customer targeting and helped increase the effectiveness of marketing and content strategies.

To reveal comScore’s full five strategies for multi-platform success, download your copy of the full white paper here. For more on how quickly mobile ignition could happen in the marketplace, read “Mobile Commerce Ignition: Death March Or Sprint?” here.