Big retailers like Amazon, Target and others are making a big push this holiday season to get consumers to download and shop via their apps, as opposed to using the company's regular websites on their mobile phones. The stores are offering exclusive incentives in order to entice customers to make the switch.
After all the buildup in the past month or so, Black Friday is almost upon us, and retailers are still looking for new ways to entice customers, enhance the shopping experience and learn more about the shoppers that frequent their stores and websites. While Black Friday has traditionally been an in-store shopping day, with Cyber Monday reserved for online deals, recently, more and more shoppers are looking to avoid the long lines and crazy crowds and shop from the convenience of home or wherever they are spending their holiday.
While much of the online shopping is still done via home or laptop computer, more and more consumers are taking the plunge and shopping on the go. Use of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices to shop online is only expected to increase as customers become more comfortable with the concept, and retailers are hoping to encourage this with their dedicated mobile shopping apps.
Most consumers shopping via their mobile devices are still using their browsers to connect to a retailer's full website, but stores are pushing the use of their dedicated mobile shopping apps more than ever this season.
The highest profile push to entice consumers to download a dedicated retail shopping app this year comes courtesy of Amazon, which is offering what is perhaps its best Black Friday deal of all exclusively via its mobile app. Only Amazon customers who download and use the app can avail themselves of the company's rockbottom-priced $149 50-inch HDTV offer, which actually goes live on Thanksgiving Day at 3 p.m. Amazon also offers app-enabled consumers access to mobile alerts for their limited-time lightning deals.
Other stores offering incentives to download their mobile apps include Target, which is cutting some toy prices by 10 percent for customers creating wish lists in their Target Kids app, and Best Buy, whose app will also enable customers to call a salesperson directly at their in store location at the touch of a button.
