A recent survey by Internet marketing company Constant Contact looking at small businesses and mobile technology trends found that around 66 percent of small businesses have entered the mobile market, using a wide range of mobile solutions via smart phones and tablets.
This is not surprising, as many research groups are projecting that within the next several years, there will be more mobile Internet users out there than desktop users. Interestingly, of the other 34 percent of business owners who had not adopted the trend, the majority (65 percent) said they had no plans to go mobile in the future. Here are some statistics that emerged in the study that shed light on this split.
Of those small businesses that have incorporated mobile technology into their business model most are using that technology for marketing purposes:
- social media – 73%
- email marketing – 71%
- mobile payments – 71%
- mobile/tablet point-of-sale 52%
- integrated mobile apps – 18%
(calendar, accounting, GPS, point-of-sale)
In contrast are the reasons given by those small businesses who haven’t adopted mobile technology:
- technology is irrelevant to their business – 28%
- don’t own a smart phone – 31%
- don’t know how to use the technology – 36%
- don’t have time to implement the technology – 33%
- customers haven’t asked for it yet – 56%
- not a market for mobile payments – 47%
Reference
Peaslee, Jennifer. “The Mobile Divide: Survey Shows Split Between Small Businesses Using and Avoiding Mobile Technology.” Small Biz Technology. 6/12/13.
