'Net Features : nielsen

The Top Shopping Apps Are...

Allison Howen — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:15:00 GMT

Mobile has changed the way we live.

From video games to photography, and even shopping – mobile devices have become an intricate part of every day life for many people.

In fact, a recent Nielsen study shows that 47 percent of American smartphone owners used shopping apps in June 2012. This is why it is important for Web workers to put a focus on mobile if they haven’t already – especially merchants. This is particularly true because consumers aren’t only using shopping apps as an alternate channel to make purchases, but are also using these applications as tools for researching products and locating items at local stores.

“Retailers are finding that consumers are willing to use smartphone apps to enhance their shopping experience, and this data shows usage of shopping apps is growing,” says Don Kellogg, Director of Telecom Insights at Nielsen. “As more Americans use their smartphones while shopping and making purchases directly through apps, retailers should consider personalizing their targeted offerings around the needs of individual consumers.”

And while major e-commerce retailers, like eBay and Amazon, are also behind some of the most used smartphone shopping apps, this doesn’t mean that other merchants can’t learn from these retail-giants’ mobile strategies. For example, eBay’s app features daily deals on its homescreen, which is a good attention grabber for the deal-seeking consumer, while traditional retailers, like Target and Walgreens, drive consumers in stores with their apps by featuring tools that help consumers locate products at a nearby store.

For some more application inspiration, check out Nielsen’s list of top 10 shopping apps from June 2012 below:

Facebook Connects with Nielson

Michael Garrity — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:00:00 GMT

In a world that is slowly being taken over by DVR, the Nielson Company have found new ways to use their very select skills. Known for being the group who work on gathering television ratings, Nielson are branching out and teaming with social networking giant Facebook to offer a ratings service for their ad campaigns.

This new project will emphasize "gross ratings points," which muliply the reach of an ad by the frequency that the audience sees it. This new system will replace traditional online metrics that have been somewhat unreliable in the past, such as clickthrough rates or impressions, and will allow marketers to buy ads for Facebook in the same way they would buy ads for print, television, and other online sources.

Nielson's Online Campaign Ratings system was first announced last September and is now planning on beginning the service on August 15.

Though Facebook is probably a solid (and obvious) choice for a first data provider for the service, Nielson made sure to say that Online Campaign Ratings is not specific to a single site.

Currently, Facebook is set to take the number one spot in US display advertising revenues according to eMarketer.

Just a month ago, the social networking website began working with digital business analytics company comScore on a similar measurement system to track the reach and frequency of their display advertisements. That system also measures the efficiency of Facebook activity through gross ratings points.

Facebook is also developing Insights, yet another marketing tool that measures traffic and activity through gross ratings points.

These big changes in Facebook's advertising schemes could alter the way in which companies promote themselves on the site. At the very least, it could change the way they pay to do it.

LivingSocial Users Younger, Richer, Smarter than Groupon Users

Mike Phillips — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 19:45:00 GMT

Want to reach the young, smart and affluent with your daily deal offering? Then use LivingSocial instead of Groupon.

According to a survey* by Nielsen Co., LivingSocial buyers are 49 percent more likely than the average American to earn at least $150,000 -- compared to 30 percent for Groupon. LivingSocial users are also more likely to be under 35 years old than Groupon's audience. Also, LivingSocial's users are smarter -- 46 percent of them attended or graduated college, compared with 39 percent for Groupon.

This is a pretty interesting study and could be quite useful. Based on this, an upscale restaurant (should they even offer a deal), might find a better target audience on LivingSocial instead of Groupon, for example. In all, depending on the product or service offered and the intended audience, businesses might find success with a little targeting.

Of course, both LivingSocial and Groupon have bigger things to worry about right now -- the 800 lb. gorilla known as Facebook Daily Deals.

*Nielsen surveyed a panel of 200,000 Internet users.