Retail Shopping: The Experience of Discovery

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Visit the website of fashion retailer bebe and odds are you'll find cheaper prices than in a local outlet as well as some online exclusives. However price is not the only reason – or even the main reason – why consumers shop online.

What's really key is the overall shopping experience.

Does the mobistore have a great selection? Is it easy and fun to browse? Are the prices clearly marked? If I'm looking for something specific, can I find it quickly?

These same questions should be at the top of the list for brick and mortar retailers as well.

According to the 2013 BuzzCity Retail Survey – a poll of 13,000 mobile users across 20 countries – product variety is the number one factor for shoppers, regardless of whether a store is located online or not.

In addition, contrary to popular perception, online shopping is not taking away from High Street retailers. Instead, we're increasingly seeing a fusion between the two as consumers look for information online before heading to retail stores and some brands that were internet-only have begun setting up a physical presence.

The Connected Shopper

We recently polled 13,000 consumers in 20 countries on their online and in–store shopping habits. 

One of the key findings dispels fears that online shopping is to blame for the challenges met by high street retailers; the 59% of consumers who shop online also shop in-store. Nearly half of consumers (47%) expect to do their holiday shopping online this year, but this does not adversely affect the number of people shopping in-store, with top destinations online and offline being Computers & Electronics, Books & Music and Clothing & Accessories.

Branding & Direct Response campaigns on BuzzCity

Advertising on the BuzzCity Ad Network helps advertisers achieve various goals whether through branding or direct response campaigns.


Brand Advertisers
Brand advertisers want to make sure their message reache their intended audience at an optimal cost while maintaining control of where their brand appears. For advertisers like Vodacom ,  this has meant taking advantage of our Brandsafe channels.

Direct Response Advertisers
Other advertisers run campaigns that look to convert clicks into sales; or a sign up, lead, purchase, or other actions that an advertiser wants a user to take. These campaigns may take advantage our Conversion Tracker which helps advertisers monitor – and subsequently tweak – the performance and design of different banners and landing pages.


Related Links

1. South Africa’s largest telco Vodacom uses BuzzCity to increase subscribers through mobile display advertising.
2. Brandsafe Channels on BuzzCity.

Mobile Payments Come of Age

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

More working adults use mobile payments to buy things and pay their bills than cheques, according to the latest BuzzCity global survey. Mobile payments are also rapidly gaining on debit and credit cards. (Mobile payments are actually already more common when it comes to bill payments, but not yet for commercial transactions.)

Think about this for a moment.

Cheques were likely first used in the Middle East more than 2300 years ago.

Mobile commerce and mobile payments didn't exist until 1997.

It took centuries - well, millennium actually - for cheque usage to really take off. By the time of my parent's generation, billions of cheques were being issued annually and these rectangular pieces of paper were the preferred means of payment for many people, particularly in North America, India, Oceania and parts of Europe.

Mobile payments meanwhile have come a long way over the past sixteen years, when the first two mobile-enabled Coca-Cola machines accepted payment via SMS in Finland.

Let's take a closer look now at the stats and some examples from around the world.

What Consumers Surf With

More people are enjoying media and consuming content on a variety of devices; on their phones, PCs, tablets (and TV). Businesses too are following suit, by designing content and sites to reach consumers across multiple platforms and screens.


To support brands and agencies plan campaigns across different devices, we have updated our online campaign planner to include, generically, what consumers use to surf the internet.