Wednesday 5 January 2011

Mobile growth good for business

: Mobile technology will soon overtake computers as people's preferred way of getting online.

Mobile phone technology is set to become the next big thing in the travel industry, and companies are being told to develop a strategy to take advantage of the astounding growth.

It has been reported that mobiles will be the most popular way of accessing the internet within the next four years, taking over from computers, and travel businesses are being urged to invest.

Fiona Hunt, Google Australia's head of industry, government, travel and tourism told a recent Sydney conference, “The future is mobile, without question. It is a huge wave. It’s so rapid that it’s almost a little scary, even for us here at Google and we have our finger on the pulse.

“You need to start thinking about mobile technology because it will be on us very quickly indeed. You need to think about how to distribute, how to market and how to covert.”

Google searches from mobiles have risen 500% in the past two years, and Ms Hunt said that because many of these searches were geographical, it is important businesses have a presence on Google Maps.

To illustrate the potential for success, Easyjet's recent online campaign yielded a conversion rate six times higher from mobiles than through laptops.

Mobile technology will also allow businesses to inform passersby of deals on offer by sending a message to their phone as they walk by their shop front.

“As you walk past a shop it will tell you about a great gift idea for your dad,” Ms Hunt said. “Or when you walk past a travel agent it will tell you of a great weekend offer they have for the Hunter Valley or about a special package at the hotel you’ve just walked past.”

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Mervyn Wind Rider, 05-01-11 18:26:

I think that the NBN would be far more effective as a completely wireless operation.

Josh McConnell , 05-01-11 12:14:

If you are not already setting up an online strategy, then get to. It is the way of the future, and with the new NBN (National Broadband Network) only a few years away, your competitors may get the 'jump' on your business if you have not started to think about it. Internet shopping has increased massively and also people finding your business via the internet has increased twofold, maybe even more as mentioned in the article above because of the new smart phones. This has also been shown over the last couple of weeks with retail spending down and internet shopping increasing everyday as has been mentioned in all media. If you do not have a website you need to have one no matter what business you are in!