Sticky smart phones

Smart phones are here to stay and businesses should add the mobile platform as a sweetener to their service offerings

BY TRISTAN FAWLEY

February 11, 2010

The proliferation of 'smart phones' in Australia and around the world has led to a shift in the way consumers seek to manage their information online. While they still have and want the choices provided by the online market, they no longer want to be tied to a computer on a desk to access them. They want to access in real-time, so they can make the best choices no matter where they are.

IDC's latest quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker results (for the first half of 2009) showed that Australian smart phone purchases in the first half of 2009 had surged 29 per cent year-on-year, now comprising 33.1 per cent of the total mobile device market.

Clearly smart phones, and their usage, are not a fad - and businesses that provide access to their services on the emerging mobile platforms are likely to garner positive consumer sentiment while gaining an additional communication and sales channel.

Smart phone application stores, such as Apple's App Store, Google's Android Market and Microsoft's Windows Marketplace for Mobile, are populated with a variety of Australian business produced free applications aimed at getting the everyday consumer to connect and purchase while on the move.

The convenient up-sell
Leading the trend, many Australian businesses and financial institutions have already released applications built specifically to cater to their customers with an iPhone. Australian iPhone users can now download applications, free of charge, to help them do everything from managing their banking, to buying movie tickets, booking a taxi, or even ordering their favourite pizza.

These applications provide both convenient access to goods and services for the customer, and a valuable customer service point-of-difference for the businesses prepared to provide them. But the applications provided by businesses can be about more than selling goods and services; they can be about providing access to useful information or tools that aid the users' purchase decisions - especially when related to large purchases that require the use of financial products.

ING Direct, Australia's fifth largest retail banking institution, has released iPhone applications, including 'ING Direct Mobile Banking' and 'ING Direct Home Buyer', which helps home buyers access mortgage and loan information as they need it - for example, when they are actually on the go viewing homes.

The application gives users the opportunity to find out how much they can afford to borrow by using a borrowing power calculator - with the ability to contact ING Direct for further assistance and advice. Once home buyers know their limits, they can look at which suburbs they can afford to live in as well as looking up the suburb on a map through a link to a GPS enabled Google Maps tool.

This clever application doesn't directly sell ING Direct's mortgage product. However as it is a free and useful resource that any home buyer can utilise, the simple inclusion of email and call centre contact details for additional assistance, can provide the organisation with sales leads.

As the Australian smart phone market continues to grow, so too will the opportunities for businesses wanting to engage across the various platforms. As Australians continue to lead the way in using smart phone applications to manage their personal finances, institutions that don't provide access on this platform will find that they miss out on valuable customer service, communication and marketing opportunities.

Tristan Fawley is a creative director with digital agency atwww