Amazon, Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Kohl’s tend to attract the most positive sentiment among US consumers who own a smartphone, according to the 2019 US Mobile Consumer Report from Vibes, a mobile marketing solution. The data also took a close look at consumer behavior and revealed that shoppers are warming up to mobile wallet adoption but deleting apps at a dizzying rate. Most important for marketers to note is that loyalty programs are a major factor for consumers when deciding where to shop. 

What may come as a surprise to some marketers is the fact that conversational commerce via text message is anticipated to be the most important way to engage customers in the coming years. The most likely ways in which consumers will use their phones in the next 12 months are to access rewards and discount coupons, as the survey notes that seven in ten already save coupons to their phones. Fifty-three percent of all consumers surveyed said they’d choose a brand with a mobile messaging platform and 56 percent cited deals as their primary reason for opting into texts from brands.

Customers still want to be rewarded for their brand loyalty via reward programs and they strongly prefer programs with mobile messaging. Nearly two-thirds are interested in saving loyalty cards on their smartphone, not via paper, as digital coupons are more convenient, according to 63 percent of respondents. 

Deals still dominate when it comes to moving customers to make purchases. However, brands must pay attention to the frequency at which messages, even deals, are delivered as 86 percent of people unsubscribe because they either get too many messages about deals or messages they feel are irrelevant. To avoid bombarding consumers with deals, Vibes notes the importance of tailored content and good timing, that’s because another 34 percent said they unsubscribe when the deals aren’t delivered at the right time.

To get the best ROI for your marketing efforts, Vibes suggests communicating deals to consumers via text messaging or mobile wallet as opposed to apps which can easily be ignored or deleted.

More efficient delivery of offers and deals may be easier to achieve with the rise of mobile wallet adoption. While 65 percent of respondents have security concerns about mobile wallets, 71 percent are interested in trying it. Tap-to-pay is also gaining momentum as 75 percent of consumers said they used this feature in 2019. 

Out of nearly a dozen brands mentioned in the survey, consumers ranked Amazon, Walmart, Target, Home Depot and Kohl’s as their favorite with 56 percent noting that they “have products that suit [their] lifestyle and budget,” and 48 percent citing excellent customer service. Chase, PetSmart, Macy’s, Southwest and Bank of America came after.

“Consumer smartphone thoughts and habits are no longer determined by age, as previously uncovered in our 2018 Mobile Consumer Report. Consumers have diverse profiles and it’s time for marketers to take notice and not group only by demographic. Instead of creating marketing campaigns based on age, income level or gender, consider your consumers’ unique mobile personalities,” said Vibes CMO, Sophie Vu. “In this year’s report, we identified four strong personalities: ‘My Phone, My Enemy’ (33 percent), ‘I Love My Phone, Keep It Safe’ (23 percent), ‘I Like My Phone, I Don’t Love It’ (18 percent) or ‘My Phone, My Life’ (26 percent). It’s crucial that brands take the time to truly get to know and understand their consumers and not fall into the trap of generational, or other demographic stereotypes.”

The online survey was completed by 1,000 US consumers between the ages of 21 and 74 from May 17-May 23, 2019.