It’s no secret that the Japanese are vastly ahead of the Americans when it comes to the development and usability of mobile phones. According to a survey conducted last season by Branding Inc., 85.6% of Japanese respondents in their teens or twenties spend nearly 100 minutes on the mobile internet per day and more than 70% have used their mobile phones to shop at least once in the last year. This is a remarkable number. Knowing this information, it made complete since for Japanese fashion brands to hold runway shows for the public and allow audience members to purchase the items as seen immediately with their mobile phones through a dedicated mobile retail site. One event alone sold over 57 million yen ($580k) worth of merchandise.
This is a huge deal for mobile and e-commerce strategies, and we fully expect more industries and brands (not just fashion) to start copying this approach. Even now in the states we are seeing a rise in geolocation services and companies developing mobile applications. Mobile internet usage will only increase, and as an interactive agency you must be ready. Services offerings must be able to keep up with the shift in medium.
