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Over 20% of Online Black Friday Sales Came From Mobile Devices
cagraham writes "According to IBM's latest Data Benchmark report, 21.8% of all online Black Friday sales were made from mobile devices. Mobile traffic, meanwhile, accounted for 39.7% of all Black Friday traffic. Interestingly, iOS users accounted for 18.1% of online sales, while Android users accounted for just 3.5%. The data come from IBM's real-time monitoring over 800 U.S. online retailers. The report also notes that tablets generated less traffic than smartphones, but accounted for almost twice the number of sales. Overall, online sales for Black Friday grew 18.9% year-over-year."
I would never buy Christmas gifts over smartphone surfing. I guess I'm just old school and like the hustle and bustle of leisurely picking through products and buying at my nice, large computer screen.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
Some of my android based tablets and phone are using browsers with a user agent that reports as an ipad, seems to help get an html5 website.
Makes me wonder how much longer the term "Cyber Monday" will be relevant if we're all continuously plugged into Amazon anyway and don't need to be at a desktop/laptop.
So you're saying iOS users are suckers with too much money to burn. :P
I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
And in other news, rioting at stores decreased by 21%.
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
Please, Slashdot, help me understand this random factoid and how it can be twisted to various predetermined narratives. Are Android users to poor to shop? No, wait, is it that Apple users are caught up with continuous shopping to flee from the ever-fading glow of material gratification? Is the latest iPhone made with parts that outgas consumption-inducing pthalates? Help me; I must know how these isolated data confirm what we all already know.
Sounds like to me that most Android users are simply too smart to shop on a tiny phone screen when they can shop on a large computer monitor.
I really really doubt that. More likely it was down about 20% in un-inflated dollars.
Sure, Apple owners have the most money to blow?
Maybe not everyone wants an OS which expects and encourages buying more useless crap. This is a win for Android IMO.
Which should never be an argument if you are developing a free application. I guess this is why Android has the lead in the number of free applications, but iOS probably still lead in paid applications.
Also this survey is only in the USA. Apple products have far more market share in their home market than worldwide.
IBM calls it "cloudbased analytics" in it's report but I find it a bit creepy that IBM has data from "800 US retail websites". I suppose just counting request headers on a reverse proxy could do it, but having data from Pinterest and Facebook, as well as how many push notifications retailers sent, seems beyond simple methods.
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the mobile apps are formatted for the small screen negating any advantage of a computer.
Until you get to the ordering screen, which they didn't take the time to create a mobile version of, and you can't fill out the entire form because the goddamn keyboard keeps popping up and covering the last few entries!
The Nexus 7 works pretty well (Humble Bundle's site takes a huge shit on it, otherwise I haven't had a problem), but I've all but given up trying to order stuff with my smartphone.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Combine this with some reports that in-store shopping was down (even if including the days prior) and it may suggest that more people are moving to shopping online than in-store, not that revenue overall is up.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
Which should never be an argument if you are developing a free application.
Depends if you are wanting to make a profit on the "free" app. Because of course most "free" apps are intended to make a profit. Either on advertising or in-app purchases.
I never understood why people think it's a good idea to enter (or even worse, store) credit card info in a phone. That's the height of stupidity, in my opinion.
I don't respond to AC's.
Until you get to the ordering screen, which they didn't take the time to create a mobile version of, and you can't fill out the entire form because the goddamn keyboard keeps popping up and covering the last few entries!
The Nexus 7 works pretty well (Humble Bundle's site takes a huge shit on it, otherwise I haven't had a problem), but I've all but given up trying to order stuff with my smartphone.
Given this report, iOS users don't seem to have a problem.
Apple customers have always been a higher "ranking" customer. People who buy Apple products are people who are willing to pay a premium for luxury and/or convenience. Most of the people who get Android phones just get it free or cheap with their phone plan and don't really care about all the abilities of the phone.
Look for a reason to smile you jaded #*^ *(%$
People are probably using the mobile phones so they don't go over the data cap on their home internet.
Until you get to the ordering screen, which they didn't take the time to create a mobile version of, and you can't fill out the entire form because the goddamn keyboard keeps popping up and covering the last few entries!
The Nexus 7 works pretty well (Humble Bundle's site takes a huge shit on it, otherwise I haven't had a problem), but I've all but given up trying to order stuff with my smartphone.
Given this report, iOS users don't seem to have a problem.
I can spoof an iPhone/iPad user agent with my Droid.
But I haven't, at least not for online shopping, so I can't tell you whether or not that would make an actionable difference in usability. If it does, that might help explain why a phone that does not have a majority share of the mobile market is seen as being the device in use by the majority share of online shoppers: Android users spoofing iOS user agents.
Personally, I'm still stuck on the question of why this matters at all.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
This disgusts me.
Walmart, and the other retailers, shouldn't be forcing their employees to come in and work in a madhouse like that on Thanksgiving day.
These people should be at home with their families, beating them up.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Someone has some hype to fuel...
Tablets can have higher resolution than PC monitors, and be connected to the big-screen TV in the living room.
Are Android and ios really a good indication of "mobile"?
How much of this shopping actually came over 3/4G connections?
I never understood why people think it's a good idea to enter (or even worse, store) credit card info in a phone. That's the height of stupidity, in my opinion.
It's no less secure than your PC. Actually, the average Joe's automatically-updated iPhone is probably more likely to be free of malware than his Windows PC.
It is also a lot easier to steal Joe's iPhone than it is to break into his apartment and run away with his desktop PC ;-)
The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
So which company is reporting to whom about who did what on Cyber Monday or Black Friday, or any F---'in day? Is this how much every aspect of our lives is being tracked that in merely a few days we know this statistic at all, regardless of accuracy?
Augh....
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
How many of the mobile purchases were done in a standard browser versus native apps? I suspect the latter is responsible for a surprisingly large share.
Or the more obvious explanation that the iOS keyboard popping up doesn't ever cover up form fields on a web-site. The current one is automatically scrolled into view, and any other part of the web-page can be scrolled into view by the user if needs be. Nothing is out of bounds because it's behind the keyboard.
Most non-crap free applications do not intent to directly make money from the application. They don't have ads or in-app purchase.
I don't have any ads or in-app purchase in my email, calendar, banking, music player or instant messaging application.
For adware, crapware and other *ware, however, I totally agree with you. Therefore if I were developing a crapware application trying to fool people into buying fake university diplomas or fake pills, I would target iOS first. I would also sell a "pro" version with ads disabled.
Or the more obvious explanation that the iOS keyboard popping up doesn't ever cover up form fields on a web-site.
That in no way explains how a device owned by about 30% of smartphone users was seen as being responsible for over 80% of online sales.
It especially does not offer any better explanation than "Android devices using iOS user agents."
Quite the opposite, really.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
It especially does not offer any better explanation than "Android devices using iOS user agents."
Quite the opposite, really.
I'd like to know what percentage of Android users who are not Slashdot users even know that you can do this.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Most non-crap free applications do not intent to directly make money from the application.
I don't agree with your opinion.
I don't have any ads or in-app purchase in my email, calendar, banking, music player or instant messaging application.
Other than banking, those tend to be built in. And in the case of Google's versions, you pay by losing your privacy. The banking one is also commercial. It's part of the overall commercial package the bank offers.
Therefore if I were developing a crapware application trying to fool people into buying fake university diplomas or fake pills, I would target iOS first. I would also sell a "pro" version with ads disabled.
You could try, but you'd either never get through the app review process, or be subsequently de-listed when the complaints come in. No such danger for Android apps. You can get away with any kind of scam on Android.
Meanwhile developers offering non-free quality apps almost always develop for iOS first.
I learned that the hard way when Mastercard's additional password dialog popped up in a tiny little iframe and couldn't be completed. Result -- no order completion until I pulled out my N7 and did the job with that.
Scientists confirmed that when IOS and Android users purchased the same items, at the same store, the IOS users still accounted for 28% more revenue.
It may be easier, but in general, newer devices prompt the user to set up some form of authentication.
The PC is harder to grab, but usually Joe doesn't have BitLocker or FileVault enabled, so slurping data consists of just booting from other media and copying off files in the home directory. With a Mac, Joe might have Find iPhone enabled, but if the computer doesn't have an Internet connection, the kill/lock signal wouldn't reach it.
The phone or tablet, if locked, will disable itself after a few guesses, or prompt for a password. More sophisticated users will have some mechanism where it takes photos of who is trying to access it as well as find its location. Other users will trigger an erase as soon as they realize that it is missing.
I wouldn't use an ad-supported calendar application if the built-in one wasn't good enough.
Most quality free applications are either developped by charity/for fun or are part of a larger commercial offering like my banking application.
On my PC Small utilities like file archiver, CD burner, FTP client, media player, email client and even developer tools (IDE, compiler, editor) are all free and without ads. In fact I don't use any ad-supported application on my PC. Why would it be different on my phone?
You could try, but you'd either never get through the app review process
Fake diplomas and pills was a little exagerated, but there are a lot of cappy applications in the App Store, like the thousands of fart applications.
Really, I think that's less an OS limitation than it is a matter of website coders not considering that someone would view the site with a (non-iOS) screen smaller than 7".
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Perhaps in second and third world countries.
But in Europe many many people have Macs and iOS devices. In some countries people have more Macs than PCs. I have many friends in Paris, nearly no one has a PC or similar device, the very few who have PCs usually run Linux. Granted, not everyone has an iPhone or iPad, here the Andriod fraction is pretty high. However I doubt the iOS fraction is lower than in the USA, I would bet it is significant higher.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
You mean pick up Joe's iPhone {or android} after he drops it or forgets it on the table in a restaurant. He set up a password on it but it's not locked {he turned it off to watch a movie cause he doesn't really know how to use the phone} and everything auto logs in for you. {of course his PC is no better but he doesn't carry it around with him everyday and loose it all the time}
crapware usually does not get aproved to the iTunes Appstore by Apple.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
One thing to note that people looking up items was mostly phone. That is probably indicative of people seeing if the brick and mortar price is *really* a good deal or they would just as soon get the item online. I suspect most cell phone browsing is done in store (which would indicate a desire to better research the purchase in front of them) and probably same for purchases (brick and mortar highlighted awareness, and shopper bought from the cheaper source (this is why someone would get something online instead of 'where they are').
They also apply the term 'mobile' in a disingeneous way. They refer to both cell phones (which people tend to only resort to when truly on the move) and tablets (which generally are used in the same situations as the users would have used laptops otherwise). I personally would be using a laptop for any browsing activity (web navigation I find easier with conventional interfaces and tablet I tend to use only for reading and video ever so often), but a lot of people use tablets for almost all their computing activities nowadays. Some people draw the line at laptop v tablet for things that require complex cursor manipulation and/or text entry, but online shopping is generally neither of those things.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
People were price checking purchases using their phones, not actually looking to buy online. If someone is shopping on a tablet, they really mean to buy something with it.
i was going to mod you up...that is until you involved Wang-Fucking-Chung in this.
never bring a twinkie to a food fight.
You appear to be grasping at straws. I suspect this is an attempt by your brain to cope with the cognitive dissonance you are currently experiencing. Why else would you attempt to explain away the facts by ranting about "alternate user agents", a factor which surely represents -- at best -- a rounding error in the data.
Seriously. Give it up. You're not convincing anyone except yourself.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.
It depends what you consider crapware. I consider WinZIP and its infamous "I agree" nag screen to be crapware. There are tons of such examples in the App Store.
Personally I wont install a free application unless it is something like my bank's app. If I am looking for a general tool, or a game or something I completely ignore all "free" apps. Looking at the listing that says "Top Grossing" you find very few if any paid apps, and I find that very telling. I would rather pay a dollar or two for an app then have to deal with privacy infringing, ad pushing, in app purchasing crap.
In fact I just checked "Top Grossing" and the only thing there that wasn't "free" was Minecraft.
Personally, I'm still stuck on the question of why this matters at all.
One platform has a disproportionately high conversion rate in a growing, increasingly important marketing sector and you're confused about why it matters? Do you hate money?
Really, I think that's less an OS limitation than it is a matter of website coders not considering that someone would view the site with a (non-iOS) screen smaller than 7".
Heard of webkit?
It's important because money is involved, basically.
If you're trying to advertise and encourage people to buy stuff, it makes sense to know who's going to buy things and how they're willing to buy them.
I like buying things on my iPad or iPhone from sites like Amazon. The experience is good and there's not much hassle. I spend almost no time at my home desktop machine now that I have an iPad, so if Amazon puts more money into the iPad user experience, it benefits people like me and apparently has a return on investment because I'm not alone in being willing to buy stuff from them from my mobile device.
It's also interesting. Why is this happening? Is it because there are people like me that are now 'post-PC'? Are those people more likely to be iOS users? Also, I bought my Mom an iPad mini last Christmas, and I bet a lot of other tech-ish people did the same or similar just to save themselves tech-support hassles. So people like my Mom that aren't super good with tech might now be doing shopping on their favourite web device, and those people may disproportionately fall in the iOS camp.
It'd be interesting to know. Are you really not curious at all? It doesn't have to be an iOS vs. Android thing, really. There's clearly a dichotomy, but there's no value judgement to be made unless you're really invested in being partisan about it.
In the end, this benefits Android users as well. This is more a matter of who to target first, but a properly constructed mobile site is good for everyone with a mobile device.
It does tell you that iOS users are more readily willing to part with their cash, whereas Android users are more thrifty.
As an Android user, that describes me pretty accurately. I don't ever brag about myself except when it comes to finances: I have a very low income yet I have an 850 credit rating and own some very nice things. I buy salvaged title cars that work really well (to me new cars are a total ripoff,) I subscribe to t-mobile and the service is great, and on these same tokens Android makes a lot more fiscal sense: There's really nothing at all I'd gain from switching to iOS other than a smaller number on my ledger.
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
Heh. At first, I misinterpreted the headline as meaning that 20% of online Black Friday sales were OF mobile devices...
Last year my younger sister drove out to Best Buy in the dead of night to score a Galaxy S3 for $50, giving me her old Galaxy S, which I now use as a media center remote and miscellaneous android device. :P
Friend: "The NIC is misconfigured..." Me: "No prob, I'll just telnet in and fix it." *Silence*
That is interesting - how could they see what they were ordering on their tiny screens?
And for the fanbois: relax! It was a light-hearted joke.
I think 5% is massively optimistic.
No sig today...
More likely the report just lumps in some chrome and firefox browsers running on android with the desktop versions. I'd gather that a fairly large number of people are using chrome or firefox browsers under android now.
"The most obvious explanation"
You keep using that term, but I do not think it means what you think it means.
Then your thinking is flawed.
If you can't explain what makes you think that, I have no compunction to believe you. Besides, you used that phrase twice, on two separate items, to "explain" something completely unrelated. Maybe you're using some weird dictionary?
Now, would you please, please stop prattling on about the goddamn keyboard?
You're the one that admitted that Android has a fundamental flaw with the keyboard that stopped you using it for online purchase.
No, I didn't - I said the keyboard on my smartphone doesn't work right, however if you actually read the entire sentence I said that after pointing out no trouble shopping with my Nexus 7, which is also an Android device. You're inferring shit I never said, because you failed to actually pay attention to the shit I did say. Then tell me my thinking is flawed?
OK, sure thing, dude, whatever you've got to tell yourself. Enjoy that false sense of intellectual superiority.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
You appear to be grasping at straws. I suspect this is an attempt by your brain to cope with the cognitive dissonance you are currently experiencing. Why else would you attempt to explain away the facts by ranting about "alternate user agents", a factor which surely represents -- at best -- a rounding error in the data.
Seriously. Give it up. You're not convincing anyone except yourself.
In other words, I'm "grasping at straws" and performing mental gymnastics for pointing out a possible discrepancy in the data collection method... which you subsequently speculate to be inaccurate, based on nothing quantifiable, only your own, personal opinion about user agents.
Well, in that case, may I welcome you to Black Kettle Manor, Mr. Pot...
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Personally, I'm still stuck on the question of why this matters at all.
One platform has a disproportionately high conversion rate in a growing, increasingly important marketing sector and you're confused about why it matters? Do you hate money?
No, just all the stupidity that love of it seems to cause.
P.S. In your effort to seem clever, you failed to explain why what kind of phone people use to shop online with does matter.
Do you hate knowledge?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Really, I think that's less an OS limitation than it is a matter of website coders not considering that someone would view the site with a (non-iOS) screen smaller than 7".
Heard of webkit?
Heard of? Yes.
Know virtually nothing about because I'm not a web designer? You betcha.
I do know how to remove, tear down, rebuild, and re-install an automatic transmission in less than 2 hours. Does that help?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I think you're confused as to the context of my question, so I'll re-word it:
I get why it's useful to track online purchases made from mobile devices (from a marketing stance, anyway), but why does it matter which mobile platform people use to shop online?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
I think 5% is massively optimistic.
"I think " != quantifiable evidence.
If you can find an actual percentage (which I doubt is even possible), feel free to post it, otherwise you're just as guilty of wild speculation as you seem to think I am.
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
Yes, if someone goes overboard in security, they can have all sorts of defenses against theft. But how many regular people will set up *any* encryption beyond their pin codes? And all to often it will be easy to guess the code as you can see the residue of the greasy fingers on the screen.
The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
Is that because you'll want to optimize your sales to those other people that aren't converting?
Because that's the only action that makes any sense. The hypotesis that people's preference of phone model has that huge correlation on willingness to buy anything requires extraordinary evidence, and people pushing for it with just this study can not be serious.
Rethinking email
How many people actually do that? To be honest I haven't even heard of anybody doing that, not on XDA or other hacking forums, and they're the ones who would be most likely to.
Furthermore, WHY would they do that? What purpose does it serve?
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
Android has 72% market share in 5 major EU countries (Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy). Source: http://www.kantarworldpanel.com/dwl.php?sn=news_downloads&id=326
iOS only has 15%.
Because you think that those $1 application do not collect your data?
The only applications that can really be trusted are either because they are open source or because you wrote it yourself.
And which country have more Macs than PCs?
How many people actually do that? To be honest I haven't even heard of anybody doing that, not on XDA or other hacking forums, and they're the ones who would be most likely to.
Furthermore, WHY would they do that? What purpose does it serve?
Yea, it's pretty much unquantifiable... but a variable that does affect the result.
Which leads me back to my earlier points that A) there's not enough data in this set to reach an intelligent, factual conclusion, and B) really, what the fuck does it matter who shops with Android and who shops with iOS?
An enigma, wrapped in a riddle, shrouded in bacon and cheese
If even 5% of those Android users know how to switch user agents, that's still 8,353,239 people.
That's more than the entire population of my home state.
You have to then assume that these people make up a very disproportionate number of people who order online from their mobile devices.
If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
Judging from the permissions in the free apps and the ones in the paid apps, then yes. I do not purchase apps that require more permissions then they need. In fact many of the apps that I have purchased only require one or two permissions, generally things like "Prevent phone from sleeping."
Why is it that full sized iPads are still thought of as mobile devices when the vast majority of them never leave the couch?
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
Sounds to me like if your company wants to sell products make sure your website is iOS compatible and you have a iOS app.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Actually it proves people with free phones don't buy stuff. You have something to sell? Sell it to the people that paid $200-$500 for their phone.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Thrifty? Christmas is in weeks, Android users don't buy Christmas gifts? But that's fine if android users don't want to spend money, no surprise that the people that bought the free phone don't have money to spend on gifts, but this doesn't look good for android to a developer or business owner trying to figure out what mobile platform to release on first.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Or, it could be that most Android devices are owned by people who are so satisfied with their lives that they don't seek escape from wherever they happen to be by taking out their phone and 'shopping' on it. Or any other long contrived reason any of us can spin up.
Me, I think it's because iPhones are turds and their owners shop online so as not to reveal to their friends that they don't have a good smartphone by going out in public carrying them.
That's nice and long and contrived, too.
Just FYI, webkit is what web-using iOS users are held hostage in. Apple doesn't allow Firefox on their iDevices, for instance.
Nah. Android users just save enough from not paying an apple brand tax that they can afford an actual computer to make purchases from.
I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
I paid $200 for a mid-range Android phone. Because it was unsubsidized. And only $35 a month for unlimited data, I might add.
Actually it demonstrates that Iphone users cant recognise that sales are traps for people with more money than sense.
Android users probably bought what they wanted months ago when it was cheap.
Certainly in Australia, if you want a bargain get it in late June as retailers get desperate to clear stock before tax time.
In December retailers know people are shopping without thinking, especially during a large sale like black Friday. You can put a 50% off sign on it and jack up the price 20% and people will still buy because its on sale. Retailers know that idiots are attracted to impulse sales like moths to a flame. They do the same thing in Australia on Boxing day (26th of December) but you can guarantee when things go back to normal in Febuary, prices will be lower. It's all because people get caught up in the frenzy of a sale and need to buy something to show for it.
BTW, only 20% of online shoppers were using a mobile device, that seems pretty low for all the retards who keep proclaiming its a "post PC world".
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I'm sure they do, but probably not on impulse as much as an iOS user would.
As for what a developer or business owner should target first, that depends on their goals and their revenue model. A business for example that offers a no cost to the end user service may want to hit the largest market first, which is easily Android. However a developer who charges a high up front cost for their app may consider iOS. Either that or they may consider Amazon who seems to be doing a better job at getting its Android customers to be paying customers than Play does.
Targeting high impulse buyers isn't the best idea for every revenue model out there. Many things go into it really.
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
I could think of a few things. For example, I think it would matter to somebody who wants to target customers that are high impulse buyers. Perhaps demographics known about iOS users can also be applied to them.
Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
Indeed. I would happily order some items on my phone, especially if I know the retailer and do not have to make massive comparisons.
However, I yet have to find a site where it actually works.
I doubt that source. Just sit in Paris in the metro and count yourself :)
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
France, not su how it is in business, but see many Macs there as well.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
That doesn't seem even close from being true:
http://9to5mac.com/2011/03/17/top-10-mac-countries-by-market-share-united-states-is-3/
I have been checking out Amazon's deals, which come up every few hours...you can see *what* will be offered and the time, but not the price.
I wonder to what extent this is related to minimum advertised price-like policies established by the manufacturer.
Are Android users to poor to shop?
Or to put it more nicely, are iOS users more likely to actually pay for things than Android users to the point where it becomes profitable to target iOS first and Android later if at all?
I don't deal in illegal materials
Let's assume for a moment that your phone has a copy of "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison or "Love Is a Wonderful Thing" by Michael Bolton. (Please hold for a moment the Office Space-style jabs at my examples.) You either bought the CD and ripped it or bought the MP3 or M4A from an online music store. However, these are still "illegal materials" in the sense that they were the subject of a successful music plagiarism lawsuit.
people with more money than sense.
A phrase used solely by people who don't have the money to buy what they want. It's the classic expression of envy.
It depends what you consider crapware. I consider WinZIP and its infamous "I agree" nag screen to be crapware. There are tons of such examples in the App Store.
Which app store are you talking about? In years of using the iOS App Store, I've never seen a nag screen. I'd have to double check the app approval guidelines, but I'm pretty sure they aren't allowed.
If you can't explain what makes you think that, I have no compunction to believe you.
You have no obligation to believe I know what the term "The obvious explanation" means? You're talking gibberish.
You used the common slashdot line: "You keep using that term, but I do not think it means what you think it means." without thinking it through. When used for a term that is possible to misunderstand then it works. When it's a phrase that cannot be misunderstood by any English speaker, then it just shows lack of thinking on your part.
No, I didn't - I said the keyboard on my smartphone doesn't work right, however if you actually read the entire sentence I said that after pointing out no trouble shopping with my Nexus 7, which is also an Android device
So it's a flaw on some Androids and not others. It's not a flaw on any iOS devices.
Well, as that data does not come from apple, I doubt it has any merit.
I don't live in Paris, but I know a lot of people there. I would estimate that 90% of them own Macs, most of them exclusively. Ofc that says nothing about market share.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Why would a correlation between phone model preference and willingness to buy anything require extraordinary evidence?
On the average, iPhones are more expensive to own and operate than Android phones, and therefore you'd expect iPhone users to have more money than Android users, and therefore would buy more stuff. In addition, iDevices are simply easier to use and more powerful than many Android devices, and so you'd expect them to be more used for things, including on-line ordering. (Both of these have the same cause: you can get a low-end Android device, but not a low-end iDevice. If you could, I'd expect the numbers to be much more comparable.)
Other things being equal, I'd expect iOS users to buy as much as high-end Android users, with a much smaller contribution from low-end Android users, meaning that the amount of on-line purchases would be heavily biased towards iOS users.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
And I'll end up reiterating stuff already in my reply: because in the short term, you want to cater to the people that are spending money, and it's useful to know what devices they're using for that. Maybe you should be providing an app if you want to encourage people to buy more. Or perhaps if you know what kind of device is being used, you can modify your site to be friendlier to them. Or, even more simplistically, if you know I'm ordering on an iPad, maybe you want to offer some iPad accessories to me before I hit the checkout.
To date, all pieces of evidence point towards iOS users being more willing or more able to spend money on their mobile devices, whether you're talking about apps or online sales like this. In general, it's probably easier to get people willing to spend money to spend a little more rather than trying to get someone who doesn't want to make these purchases to spend at all.
More data means more money.
really, what the fuck does it matter who shops with Android and who shops with iOS?
It matters to retailers, who have to allocate resources toward optimizing a site for the version of WebKit included with Safari for iOS or the version of Chrome included with Android, or allocate resources toward developing an iOS app or an Android app. If iOS users bring more revenue all other things being equal, retailers will court iOS users more.
why does it matter which mobile platform people use to shop online?
Because there are several shopping tasks that can't be done in a mobile web browser, and every dollar spent on developing an Android app is a dollar that can't be spent improving an iOS app.
Yet, there are more high-end Android devices out there than "single sized" iDevices. If they buy just as much, Android should get the biggest share.
SOME correlation does not require exraordinary evidence. In fact, I quite expect it. That correlation reported here does require extraordinary evidence.
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