The British love sports and they love to gamble, so it’s little surprise that gambling companies have been the first big movers in the mobile application space in the UK.The Gala Coral Group, Ladbrokes Ltd and PaddyPower PLC are three companies that offer odds and take bets on just about everything from football matches to greyhounds to which contestant will be booted off next from the popular British reality TV programme “Big Brother”. (In case you’re wondering, Seany is currently the odds-on choice to be evicted next while Brian and Liam are 3-1 favorites to be the last remaining males in the house.)
Gala Coral, Ladbrokes and PaddyPower started with physical shops and gaming centres. Each firm then grew its revenues further by expanding first onto the internet with online casinos and now into the mobile environment.
Similarly, at BuzzCity, we are betting that clothing retailers, discount stores, even used car dealers will soon reach out and interact via mobile phones with European consumers in ways unimagined not so long ago.
We recently conducted a survey of our British users, who were offered Gamma Dollars in return for their participation. Here are the results.
myGamma mobile networkers are:
* Largely male (65%)
* Young adults, aged 25 – 36 (50%)
* Secondary school graduates (44%)
(Only 11 percent have university-level education)
* Working class (both skilled and un-skilled individuals, who do not work at a computer)
* Lower income (59% earn less than £19,000 a year; 78% earn less than £23,333)
While our user base is cost-conscious and price-sensitive, they still spend money on themselves:
* 42% keep track of the latest products
* 34% spend more than half their income on leisure items, like music and movies
Fifty-year old “Alanleic” is a bit older than most myGamma users, but in many ways he is a typical member of the mobile community. He works as a crossing-keeper, opening gates for cars to pass through, in England’s East Midlands. Alan enjoys drinking, dancing and football and is open to romance. He notes that the cost of living is high in the East Midlands and that when he goes shopping, he’s a bargain-hunter.Discount chains that feature economy brands and offer value for money, like Asda & Martin, are popular with shoppers like Alan. Lower-income shoppers in the UK also purchase clothes at the supermarket and from mail order catalogues like Littlewoods & Argos. Some of these stores offer credit facilities to their consumers.
Stores like these now have a great opportunity to extend their services onto the mobile internet by offering price guides, store locators, price comparisons, gift vouchers, loyalty cards, loyalty points and more. Applications like these not only provide consumers with more product information, they also enhance brand awareness and spark word-of-mouth recommendations.
This is win-win-win for everyone involved: consumers have access to more information and services, retailers expand their market and mobile services like myGamma provide the platform for consumers and businesses to interact like never before.
Win, place and show!
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