Based on information found on the year-end Forrester Predictions Brief, almost 5 billion people all over the world are in possession of a mobile phone. In fact, approximately 50% of the global population has smartphone subscriptions, particularly in Asia and Africa. This is excellent news for online casinos and other gaming outlets because this suggests that they should see a boost in revenue on their mobile gaming platforms.
Also, consumers will start to demand a more streamlined experience on their smartphones and tablets. European and American consumers will start to catch up with their Asian counterparts, in terms of how they interact with businesses on mobile. All of this will cause brands to pay attention, resulting in a better overall user experience.
As per usual, consumers will spend a lot of time on just a few app, like Google Maps, Facebook, etc. But they will start to turn to aggregation apps more as well as a couple of platforms to help them get the services and content that they need.
Those platforms will provide clients with a stream of relevant services and content. In this way, users won’t have to exit out of the app. For providers without the stickiness or scale of a social network, or the utility of a Google Maps, expect user interaction to drop dramatically.
Forrest also predicts that over 25% of companies will change how they use their mobile devices in terms of customer interaction. In addition, these companies are also expected to get better at tracking and maximizing mobile, whether users are offline or online.
When it comes to brick and mortar retailers, mobile is expected to influence approximately $1 trillion in spending in the United States alone. A well-executed example of this can be found in Facebook’s Atlas partnership that connect in-store point of sales systems with mobile ads. This is accomplished by tracking customers on several devices. It is expected that savvy merchants will soon follow in Atlas’ footsteps.
But don’t forget about Google just yet – this company has some of the best cross-channel tracking capabilities on the planet, largely because they own the mobile operation systems on the majority of smartphones. Plus, when you include Gmail, Search, Google Now, Maps, etc, it’s easy to see why they will continue leading the pack.
Tablet and mobile commerce will hit $92 billion in the European Union and $142 billion in the United States. These figures represent 32 and 38 percent respectively
New technology, trust, and convenience will drive the adoption of digital wallets like Android Pay and Apple Pay.
Enterprise Apps are Expected to Grow in Popularity
In 2016, over 60% of people who control the budgets and decisions that companies make, in terms of mobile, are expected to begin investing in apps that will improve productivity. Employees who work at global enterprises who use these solutions are 50% more likely to report that their fellow coworkers are happy and 40% more are expected to report customer satisfaction.
Forrester reports that brick and mortar businesses like Target, eBay, Amazon, and Walgreens are among the most intelligent retail leaders when it comes to creating employee mobile apps. The insurance, financial services, and travel industries are also adopting mobile in order to provide support for their employees. This can be seen in companies like State Farm, Progressive, Bank of America, American Airlines, United, Marriott, and SPG.
The Internet and Beyond
To improve their services, digital platforms will leverage information from tablets, smartphones, and other devices that are connected to the Internet. So, you can expect companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon to begin investing in service and product development so that they can capitalize on this trend.
In terms of delivering services where and when customers want them, Forrest is expecting alternative ecosystems like Apple’s iOS and Android to reveal themselves. This is already happening in new apps like Facebook Messenger in the United States and WeChat in China,, which attractg large amounts of, integral information about consumers. This year, we can expect these ecosystems to grow as brands start looking for new ways to serve existing customers
In addition to the popular mobile superstars like Google, Facebook, and Apple, we can also expect this list to include unexpected players like Amazon, Microsoft and overseas companies like Tencent, Baidu, Xiamoi, and Alibaba.
Mobile M&A to Grow Exponentially
Internet giants like Google and Facebook will try to expand their mobile audiences with acquisitions that will help them reach certain demographic markets, geographies, or segments. Forrester believes that Yahoo may be of interest to a big digital platform and streaming music player Spotify is an optimal target as well.
Enterprise mobile companies are expected to consolidate. Also, enterprise tech giants like Salesforce, Intel, HP, Cisco, Amazon, and Adobe are expected to buy up smaller businesses like enterprise mobile companies like Xively, Xamarin, Kony, Kinvey, Appcelerator, and AnyPresence.
Large cloud companies like Adobe and Salesforce will want to invest in and automate mobile devices. In fact, Forrester predicts that marketing tech vendors will be involved in a race that provides data-driven insights, automated products, and interesting in-app experiences Mobile marketing startups that may be of interest include Urban Airship, Swerve, Localytics, and Kahuna.
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