Social media and mobile technology are now firmly established in the UK, though their use continues to grow exponentially, and the hospitality sector is working hard to employ them to best effect.
Here, Peter Briffett, Managing Director, UK & Ireland of LivingSocial considers the implications and potential.
Changing the way diners and guests select
Social media and mobile technology are now irrevocably changing the way diners and guests select restaurants or hotels and make their purchases. As consumers, they penetrate almost every aspect of our daily routine – from being the first thing we reach for on waking in the morning, to altering the way we communicate, acquire and share information and shop.
Finding online bargains and inspiration
Research commissioned by LivingSocial highlights the popularity of social media for shoppers, with the top reason (44%) for using social media in the UK and Ireland, being to find online bargains and inspiration.
For many, it is clearly a daily priority, with group-buying fans checking social commerce sites more often than they look at Twitter or read newspapers and magazines.
30% more mobile commerce visitors 2011 to 2012
Upward trends in mobile commerce visitors were highlighted in recent research from Experian Hitwise, highlighting the strength of this platform in the UK market, with 2.8bn visits to retail sites in the UK in December 2012 alone, an increase of 30% on December 2011.
As one of the top three things your average Briton will not leave home without, the immense power of the mobile phone for businesses seeking to reach consumers is beyond question, and the stats certainly back this, with 42% of the UK’s top 100 retailers now having officially taken the leap into the mobile space in the last year. In 2011, this figure sat at a mere 20% – a clear demonstration of the scale and sped of change in the mobile commerce arena this year alone.
Not unprecedented, not a ‘fad’
However, with that in mind, it is important to remember that the shift we are currently seeing is far from unprecedented – from the rise of mass media, to the development of the Internet, to the precedence of ecommerce, history is filled with trends that started as a “fad”, that attracted plenty of criticism and were allocated limited shelf lives, and which have fundamentally changed the way we live.
Immense potential for the hospitality world
The challenge we therefore face, is not in fact, how to get people to want to use mobile as a commerce platform, that is happening around us as we speak, but to answer the question of how businesses can best make use of the platform to truly engage with past, present and future customers in a scalable, manageable way.
Although no-one yet has all the answers on what will happen in mobile and social commerce in 2013, what is clear is that there is immense potential for the hospitality and restaurant world in this space, and yet more exciting leaps are to be expected.
About LivingSocial
LivingSocial is the local marketplace to buy and share the best things to do in your city. With unique and diverse offerings each day, members are inspired to discover everything from weekend excursions, to one-of-a kind events and experiences, to exclusive gourmet dinners and luxury spa days, to family aquarium outings and more. Local businesses are helped to grow by introducing them to high-quality new customers, and merchants are given the tools to make members their regulars. Founded in Washington, D.C., LivingSocial now has more than 70 million members around the world.
About Peter Briffett
Peter oversees LivingSocial’s UK and Irish markets, communicating LivingSocial’s core strategy and overseeing growth as the next great consumer brand. Based in London, Peter is responsible for LivingSocial’s numerous markets in the UK and has developed a strong footprint in the UK & Irish group-buying space.
Prior to LivingSocial, Peter held senior positions at Microsoft and Thomson Reuters. He has also successfully built and managed a number of technology startups including VoIP company Howler Technologies, Gissing Software, and iView Multimedia where as CEO Peter oversaw its acquisition by Microsoft. He also founded Biometric Distribution, supplying fingerprint readers and iris scanners to leading companies before being acquired by Kyotec Securities.