10 Key Posts about Millennials and Mobile: E-commerce Link Digest

For a long time, I curated a link digest every Friday featuring interesting articles and posts about e-commerce and Internet marketing. And, though it’s been a while since my last one, I’ve gotten a number of emails lately asking me to bring it back. So, without further ado, here’s the triumphant return of the Thinks E-commerce and Internet Marketing Link Digest, this week focused heavily on millennials and mobile. Enjoy:

1. Marketing Charts has data that shows 2 in 3 millennials use mobile apps while shopping in-store. In fact, Business Insider data suggests that customer mobile use drives in-store traffic (they’re calling it “reverse showrooming”), in a reverse of what’s long been feared.
2. Another Marketing Charts post, this one shows that millennials spend more time with digital than traditional media, but with some caveats.
3. eMarketer offers data highlighting that a majority in Canada will access the web via their mobile phones.
4. I wrote a post that explored the shocking truth about millennials and digital media.
5. Mobile Commerce Daily has a great article explaining how Zappos wins at apps by leveraging mobile moments
6. Still more Marketing Charts data shows US smartphone penetration tops 7 in 10 mobile subscribers in Q2.
7. Another data point from eMarketer suggests people are pretty much glued to technology 24/7. Shocking, I know.
8. According to Gizmodo, Snapchat’s thinking about getting into the mobile payment business. Given the overall growth of mobile, that’s not surprising.
9. My 5 Essential Travel Marketing Posts for July offered a number of insights into mobile and millennials among travel customers.
10. And another piece from Mobile Commerce Daily explains why retailers should pay closer attention to mobile-only shoppers. Good stuff to round out this week’s list.

Your customers, from Millennials straight through to Boomers often read email on their mobile phones too. Last week I took a look at growing your email list and its importance as an e-commerce best practice. I also gave a talk to a fantastic audience all about email marketing in an age of mobile and featured the topic as part of my weekly podcast. If you’re interested, you can view the slides from the talk below:

If you’re interested in learning even more about how customers changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing, register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

As an FYI, I’m presenting a webinar called Digital Marketing Directions: Key Trends Driving Your Marketing Next Year on Tuesday, September 16. You can read all the details here.

Finally, whether you work with Millennials, Boomers, Gen X, or the Silent Generation, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the mobile, local, social web and how to make it work for your business, including:

• What Your Customers Expect from Mobile and E-commerce in 2014
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• Should Marketers Really Trust Google in 2014?
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56