Mobile commerce insights shared by Landmark Interactive Franchise Group, the largest network of online franchise directories
Atlanta, GA – (October 4, 2012) – Mobile commerce is catching on even in the high-end market of buying a business. Investors who want to buy a franchise are adopting mobile phones and tablets at a rapid rate to research and apply for franchise opportunities.
The number of investment inquiries from mobile devices has tripled in the past 18 months, according to new research on the franchise-buying process. Findings were shared with industry executives at the Franchise Update Leadership and Development conference in Atlanta today.
“Many marketers will be surprised to see such a boom in mobile leads from the portals,” said Steve Olson, president of the Franchise Update Media Group. “We certainly expected phones and tablets to be part of the research process, but the growth in inquiries submitted was definitely a surprise. For business purposes, mobile seems to be catching on faster than any other channels.”
With a typical franchise investment ranging anywhere from the cost of a car to the price of a home or college education, “Smaller screens are playing a big role in big purchases,” Olson said.
Trends were drawn from an analysis of more than 15 million visits to the Landmark Interactive Franchise Group, a network of the largest online franchise recruitment sites. The company’s websites, including Franchise.com, FranchiseOpportunities.com, FranchiseSolutions.com, FranchiseGator.com and BusinessBroker.net, have pioneered online franchise sales since 1995.
Among the findings that show mobile devices are now an important segment of the franchise-recruitment process:
Mobile visitors now account for 20.7% of all visitors to the group’s websites. Mobile share of visitors has tripled since January 2011, with phones accounting for 57% of the mobile visitors and tablets 43%. Tablets are the faster growing category with a share that has more than quadrupled since January 2011.
- Mobile franchise prospects have tripled in the past 18 months, reaching 20.2% of online investment inquiries.
- Mobile engagement mimics desktops in page views per visit and time spent per visit. The return frequency is virtually the same for tablet and PC visitors.
- Mobile users are high-value prospects and were 8.7% more likely to request franchise information with $100,000 to $500,000 in available capital to invest.
“The challenge with mobile is that it includes so many different devices and screen sizes, not to mention several different app stores, operating systems and mobile browsers,” said Michael Alston, president of Landmark Interactive. “We have re-tooled our products to make sure that we are engaging prospects across all of these platforms.”
“Just as the Internet fundamentally changed the business-buying process over the past decade, mobile phones and tablets are now further changing the game,” according to Alston.
About Landmark Interactive
Landmark Interactive’s business units operate a number of leading consumer marketplaces for entrepreneurs interested in franchises and business opportunities. Our Franchise and Business Opportunities Group serves the leading franchisors with prospective franchisees. We operate one of the largest business-for-sale marketplaces in the world, with over 30,000 listings, as well as FranchiseNews.com.
The companies of Landmark Interactive offer Internet advertising and marketing services to consumers, businesses and, in particular, marketers. Its online marketing services businesses help leading publishers and advertisers acquire profitable customers through services such as lead generation, email marketing, ad targeting, geo-location, and predictive modeling.
Landmark Interactive is a unit of Dominion Enterprises, a leading marketing services and publishing company which also serves the automotive, recreational and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, employment, parenting, and travel markets. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, customer relationship management, website design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 45 market-leading websites reaching more than 40 million unique visitors monthly.
PRESS CONTACTS:
Chris Kouba, Director of Analytics
Landmark Interactive
+1 757 351 7730
chris.kouba@deonline.com
Michael Alston, President
Landmark Interactive
+1 757 351 8808
http://www.DominionEnterprises.com
http://www.LandmarkInteractive.com