Mobile And The Gift Of Time-Considerate Experiences

Consumers are increasingly responding to brands that streamline everyday activities and prioritize time efficiency in their experiences.

Time is money. So it’s little wonder why consumers are increasingly responding to brands that can streamline their everyday activities and prioritize time efficiency in their experiences.

Today’s mobile landscape offers countless tactics brands can employ in catering to time scarcity. They include mobile ordering, integrations with popular consumer apps, in-store maps, and next-level experiences like trunk delivery, which turns a consumer’s vehicle into a more convenient shipping address.

Here are some of the best ways to implement time-considerate experiences and the increased convenience they offer.

Optimize Mobile Ordering

Time efficiency and speed-enabling experiences are a game-changer for consumers. Voice activation, mobile ordering, and app-enabled grocery maps and lists simplify the shopper experience. These functionalities not only streamline common friction points, but they give consumers back valuable amounts of time and allow them to better optimize shopping trips.

As mobile ordering gains traction among brands, accessibility has become an important expectation for consumers. After all, who wouldn’t want to wake up, jumpstart a breakfast order, and skip the coffee line in one fell swoop? Even if there’s a block full of cheaper coffee options, mobile ordering and convenience often trumps price and product. In fact, 63% of consumers are willing to pay higher prices for on-demand services, with consumers paying an average 11% more for each additional level of convenience. When it comes down to it, an extra few dollars can matter less than the five minutes lost.

Hand-Deliver Value

For consumers, shipping and delivery can be anxiety-inducing parts of the shopper journey. While text notifications and same-day delivery have soothed some of these concerns, some brands are going the extra mile to ensure consumers don’t waste time worrying about their packages.

Amazon recently announced its trunk delivery service, which gives its couriers access to a person’s vehicle to leave packages inside. While many customers fret about missing packages, this service streamlines a stressful part of the customer experience while adding an extra layer of convenience. For example, consider the frazzled parent who doesn’t want the doorbell to disturb a sleeping child or a customer hoping to hide a top-secret birthday present. This builds on the company’s “Amazon Key” experience, which allows Prime subscribers to have packages delivered inside their homes.

Consumers who are reluctant to share their keys can also benefit from curbside pickup. Brands like CVS are increasingly inviting consumers to place orders in-app or online. Shoppers will then receive a text when their orders are ready and will be able to pull into an open space near the entrance to have their order hand-delivered.

As with data privacy concerns, there is an inherent compromise that exists between “creepy” and “convenient,” and the boundary between them is a moving target. Despite these anxieties, consumers continue to embrace the tech renaissance. After all, people still shop at the major retailers that suffered credit card breaches, and even though we may harbor a feeling that our home assistant is listening to us all the time, a smart speaker is sitting on my desk right now.

Meet Consumers In Existing Apps

When it comes to branded apps, consumers have endless options to sift through, yet one in four abandon apps after only one use. The apps most likely to receive consumer love are lifestyle experiences, ranging from social media and dating apps to rideshares.

While brands shouldn’t completely replace their own app experiences, experimenting with promotions and partnerships helps increase awareness while tapping into channels busy consumers are most engaged with.

Starbucks and Spotify, for example, have invited customers to favorite and save music playing in-store while iHeartRadio’s “Tinder Ball” has encouraged Tinder users to swipe a branded profile card to win a dream concert date. Rideshares like Uber and Lyft have also joined forces with countless brands for IRL promotions, including IKEA, Hershey, and Absolut. By empowering one another, these brands not only create a unique experience, but further immerse and reward consumers.

As the meaning of value continues to expand, catering to consumer convenience has become an important brand consideration. When implementing these tactics, brands should put themselves in consumers’ shoes, identifying points of friction and innovating solutions. Creating experiences that address time scarcity can further streamline consumer interactions and create moments that truly move the needle.