A Phone For Today's Consumer

“Back in the day, we had one phone in the house, it was a rotary phone connected to the wall. You had to wait your turn to use the phone because no house had their own phone line, you shared ‘party lines’ with your neighbors. So if Billy from next door was on the phone you had to wait.”

Fast track to 2013 and phones are not only everywhere, they are portable and lightweight and provide multitudes of services beyond mere telephone conversations. It can be said that the 1990s was the decade of the cell phone; beginning as large, chunky devices they slimmed down, dropped their bothersome antennas, and even became available in a variety of vibrant colors. Meanwhile the appearance of the smartphone, changed the cellular phone industry forever. According to pcmag.com a smartphone is, “A cellular telephone with built-in applications and Internet access.” The first smartphone, believe it or not, was created in 1992 by IBM and BellSouth - its name was Simon Personal Communicator (his friends called him Simon). Simon combined a phone with a calculator, an address book and a world clock; items that are standard in today’s most basic phones.

It wasn’t until the early 2000s that smartphones were developed enough to go mainstream, they had been developed for over a decade into a compact and powerful product. And in 2002, Blackberry and Palm put out the first “modern” smartphones which featured internet and email.

The game changed again when Apple produced with the first advanced touchscreen phone in 2007 containing a revolutionary mobile operating system, the first of its kind. It didn’t take long for others to follow suit, Google unveiled its Android powered devices and Microsoft the Windows Phone.

Caption: The changing mobile phone

Here come the brass taxes, since the beginning of the 20th century and Alexander Graham Bell’s invention, landline telephones have been on the rise worldwide. The first noticeable decline wasn’t until the turn of the 21st century. In 2001, 57 out of 100 persons had a landline in the developed world; by 2007 that number had decreased to 50. In the United States, almost 25% of households no longer used landlines by 2009. (pbs.org) Why? The cell phone offered the convenience of mobile communication, we were no longer tied to our homes or our desks to get in touch with each other. In addition, paying for both a landline and multiple cell phones became a redundant expense and the cell phone was clearly more bang for its buck. So people tossed their landlines aside for an alternative more appealing both financially and physically.

Last year, out of all the U.S. consumers with mobile devices a whopping 49.7% of those were smartphones (nielsen.com). The days of conventional paper maps and travel guides are long gone, as everything can be conveniently found on one device in the palm of your hand.  Currently the most common uses of mobile smartphones are text messaging, browsing, picture taking (with the handy built-in camera), email and social networking. Smartphone owners not only look at their phones all day, but carry them as if they become one with their minds. They are constantly sharing images of drinking their corner store coffee on Instagram or tweeting from the amazing concert they got front row seats for. A couple decades ago, they would have had to wait to see their friends in person or pick up their home phone to share their eventful day. 

Caption: An app filled smartphone for the modern day shopper

Mobile search has become an integral part of daily life. Gone are the days we used the Yellow Pages for addresses, now 78% of smartphone users use their devices to lookup the store location of the blowout sale so they can grab the 42” tv set. Rather than physically sorting through store inventory for an item that may be sold out, consumers can conveniently check online inventory on the go. While in the store they compare prices, redeem mobile coupons, access shopping lists and make those purchases directly from their phone through the use of an app. Not only that, after leaving the store 22% will comment, review, and or share their purchases with their online communities. (nielsen.com) The mobile phone has become the wallet of the 21st century, it holds everything we hold dear: our money, our phone numbers, our family photos, our notes, to-do lists, and scribblings - its the perfect do-all device for a shopper on the go.

Within this booming market, businesses have adapted by targeting customers with time sensitive and location based promotions. This concept can  only continue to grow, given that by the year 2015 its expected that a staggering 2 billion people worldwide will be using mobile devices to access the internet (mashable.com).  As companies take a more active role in using mobile and technological advances in acquiring and retaining loyal customers, consumerism will take leaps into the future by empowering the mobile consumer and the seller with information. 

 

Caption: Shopper on the Go