It's already coming up to that time of the year, advertisers are getting ready, and you could almost get your Christmas tree out and get away with it. Google has announced today their Christmas retail trends for 2011, and the company claims that they've seen a 220% jump in shopping searches coming from smartphones.
In a press release today, Google said that there was a 29% increase in shopping-related searches year on year for this period, and the company claims that mobile is "this year's Christmas miracle." The company bragged that Australia sees the second highest smartphone usage in the world, however, it is well behind that of Singapore which sees almost double that number.
They claim that by the end of 2011, well over 50% of Australian adults will own smartphones. That's impressive. They don't specify if this number is Android phones, but it's probably overall devices rather than specific ones.
Google also claims that 80% of advertisers using their AdWords service don't have mobile friendly websites, and that they are likely to lose out on up to 25% extra sales. A survey carried out by IPSOS showed that 1 in 5 Australians had used their smartphone to make a purchase.
“If you asked a business owner whether she’d ignore every fourth customer to walk in her shop this Christmas season, the answer would certainly be no,” said Ross McDonald, Google Australia’s Head of Retail. They say that businesses should act quickly, or miss out on the new Christmas rush; the mobile purchase.
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