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Google exec: Mobile has a measurement problem, not a conversion one

NEW YORK ? A Google executive at the 2013 MMA Forum said that marketers need to figure out how to attribute mobile value beyond mcommerce orders on their mobile site and identify additional ways their customers may be converting.

During the ?Understanding Consumers Path to Purchase in a New, Multi-Screen World? session, the executive discussed how consumers are constantly connected and moving from one device to another to communicate. While new devices proliferate, marketers are no longer seeing a linear path to purchase that ends with an ecommerce purchase on the same screen.

?We are living in a multiscreen world ? we just move seamlessly from screen to screen,? Tim Reis, head of mobile and social solutions at Google, Mountain View, CA. ?This access has made us smarter than we were without it.?

Context wins
According to Mr. Reis, context drives device choice.

The device consumers to choose to use at a particular time is often driven by context.

For marketers, context is everything. Many times, companies depend on consumer information such as demographic, time of day and location to better reach them and offer a personlized experience.

Furthermore, mobile is paving new paths between customers and conversions.

Impacting business
Smartphones are used heavily for pre-shopping activities, per Google.

?We know that people are finding locations ? that?s obvious,? Mr. Reis said. ?We also know people are doing pricing comparisons.

?It?s that access to information that?s empowering consumers,? he said. ?Promotions and offers has always been part of the story.

?Mobile is transforming the shopping experience.?

Recent research
Recent Google research found that eight in ten smartphone shoppers use their devices to help shop while in-store.

Additionally, shoppers who use mobile more, buy more.

Mobile searches drive valuable outcome for businesses. According to Google, 73 percent of mobile searches trigger additional action and conversions.

In addition, 28 percent of mobile searches result in conversions.

Google also ran a recent case study with adidas and iProspect where it found that one in five consumers who clicked on a store locator on the brand?s mobile site went to an in-store location.

To drive in-store traffic, adidas leveraged its mobile search campaigns with location extensions that drove users to the store locator feature on the shoe brand?s mobile site.

Moreover, the company claimed that 13 percent of users who came into a store location made a purchase in general. The average order value was $71.

IProspect estimated that one in five consumers ? or 20 percent ? who visited the store locator page on adidas? mobile site went into a store. This number represents consumers with a higher intent to shop.

The higher intent therefore was measured as a 20 percent conversion rate for the case study. This is a seven percent increase from the average in-store conversion rate. Additionally, the average order value was increased to $80.

New technologies
According to Mr. Reis, the mobile space is continually growing and advancing.

And, contrary to what marketers may say, mobile does not have a conversion problem ? it has a measurement problem.

?Technology advances, consumers follow and marketers chase them,? Mr. Reis said.

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York