You might even say 'big picture, little screen,' since so much of what we've seen includes mobile! Here's a quick peek at figures that portend trends in digital commerce, social, & mobile...along with some food for thought on the opportunities for independent college stores.

1. By 2025, mobile commerce will likely generate more than 10% of all U.S. retail sales (growth of about 7% since 2018 - Pew Center for Research)

-Teen IRL to this post's author-parent: 'it's soooo much easier just shopping on my phone' (current and future young-shopper generations have their faces glued to smartphones and to a lesser extent tablets when you consider - wait for it - Gen Alpha!

2. Users who have purchased products they’ve seen on social media apps (Reveal Mobile)
    Facebook: 41%
    TikTok: 49%
    Instagram: 72%

-This is really interesting because you could dig deeper into influencer vs ad (think student ambassador/creator - and there's also an interesting follow up point noted below on social ads); there's also the notion here as well that video is a major driving force with reels & stories.  

3. Top two Product Page factors that consumers say help them the most when deciding to buy: customer reviews 62%, product Images 40% 

4. 51% of shoppers are “very likely to buy” when there are personally relevant images, videos, and reviews on a product page (Salsify)

-Just like "recommended books," your staff and student ambassadors can recommend apparel & gifts (anything really) both in-store and online - people love the human touch; also, images of the apparel being worn is always a winner, especially across the diversity of individuals in your community and the appreciation of that representation.

5. More than 60% of marketers use location data to drive personalization (Merkle)

-There is great opportunity with geofence ads and retargeting ads. We'll hear a great use case about geofencing from Georgia Southern at the ICBA Conference...polos flying out of inventory! 

6. 75% of consumers say they’re open to receiving texts from brands they care about (Klaviyo); the most popular type of texts to receive are order status and coupons, especially for those under age 35.

-If they’re into receiving order status, they’re all the more likely to be receptive to coupons and perpetuate being an active mobile consumer.

7. Percentage of posts in feeds that are ads (Reveal Mobile):
    Facebook 21.2%
    Instagram 20.6%
    LinkedIn 19.6%
    Twitter 14.2%
    TikTok 2.4%  (lowest of the ads - yet people are buying things "seen" on TikTok as noted above)

-Are you: social selling? How about building community and goodwill.. informing.. entertaining.. being a place for discovery.. maybe all of the above?!!! There's a place for all of it in the digital customer & community experience.