Wednesday December 2, 2009
Black Friday cell phone deals
Image © Caspar Benson, Getty ImagesNow that mega sales on
Black Friday and
Cyber Monday are history, which day emerged as the winning choice based on most accesses by cell phones in 2009?
Also, which online retailers saw the biggest traffic spikes from mobile phones?
In 2009, Black Friday (Nov. 27, 2009) beat out Cyber Monday (Nov. 30, 2009) by nearly 12 times the traffic, according to Tuesday results from Internet mobility company Novarra.
In the online retailer battle, BestBuy.com saw the biggest traffic surge. Specifically:
- On average, page view increases via cell phone Internet traffic for U.S. retailers were up 388 percent on Black Friday and 160 percent on Cyber Monday.
In the United Kingdom (where Black Friday is not a retail event), page views increased a modest 40 percent on Black Friday and 23 percent on Cyber Monday.
- The Black Friday winners for the top online retailers in the U.S. were BestBuy.com (792 percent), Walmart.com (740 percent), Sears.com (492 percent) and Macys.com (447 percent). United Kingdom retailer Argos.co.uk stood out with an increase of 395 percent.
- Traffic to Black Friday advertising sites and Cyber Monday shopping sites (including BFAds.net and CyberMonday.net) surged nearly 100,000 percent for the week of Nov. 24, 2009 to Nov. 30, 2009 with a large peak leading up to Black Friday.
Tuesday December 1, 2009
Samsung Exclaim
Image © SamsungIn 2009, consumers who didn't take the
smartphone route often flocked to the full-keyboard cell phone.
These cell phones, which feature full
QWERTY keyboards, are especially designed for quick
text messaging. With more keys, fewer keystrokes are needed.
If you're shopping for a full-keyboard cell phone for yourself or considering one as a holiday gift this year, my updated list of
2009's top text messaging cell phones will get you started off on the right foot.
It features the Sidekick LX for T-Mobile, Motorola Karma QA1 for AT&T, Samsung Exclaim for Sprint, LG enV 2 for Verizon Wireless and more.
Monday November 30, 2009
LG Rumor2 at Sprint
Image © LGNow that
Black Friday 2009 cell phone deals have come and gone, Cyber Monday arrives today with even more.
The first holiday Web exclusive that caught my eye for Cyber Monday 2009 is a
free LG Rumor2 cell phone at Sprint.
With a regular retail price of $249.99, the new
quick-messaging cell phone is free after $170 in instant savings and $79.99 in Web savings. The deal, which ends on Dec. 1, 2009, requires a two-year service contract with Sprint.
The LG Rumor2 improves on the first Rumor with quick and threaded
text messaging. Threaded messaging helps you more intuitively send and respond to messages in a conversation-like format (i.e. Google's Gmail).
Amazon.com and
CellHut.com also have some compelling Cyber Monday 2009 cell phone deals.
Amazon.com is currently offering the
HTC PURE Windows phone for AT&T for a penny along with the
Samsung Solstice a887 for AT&T for a penny. Both require a new AT&T service plan.
Amazon.com is also currently offering the
LG enV3 VX9200 for Verizon Wireless for a penny with a service plan. These Amazon.com deals expire at 11:59 p.m. PDT on Dec. 1, 2009.
Over at CellHut.com, which is one of the largest e-commerce Web sites for
unlocked cell phones and accessories, its Cyber Monday sale has 25 exclusive deals on phones and 50 deals on Bluetooth accessories.
It's offering "never-before-seen savings" on phones like the Nokia N96, Samsung U600, MOTOROKR Z6 and Samsung WEP170.
Friday November 27, 2009
Image © BIA/KelseyLast week, we learned of an anticipated
increase in mobile crime due to a proliferation in smartphone use.
This week, we learn of a spike in non-voice communications (such as
text messaging, email and Internet access) due to the same growth in the
smartphone space (i.e. mobile phones with operating systems).
The new study, which was released last week by BIA/Kelsey and research partner ConStat, says this growing class of non-voice users represents more than one-fifth of all mobile consumers. Among mobile users:
- 48.2 percent sent or received more than 10 text messages per week
- 21 percent had more than 10 Internet accesses per week
- 20 percent sent or received more than 10 emails per week
In addition, the study says local searching now exceeds out-of-market searches by a wide margin. Among consumers using mobile devices:
- 18.5 percent searched the mobile Web for local products or services (which is up from 15.6 percent in 2008)
- 15.9 percent obtained information about movies or other entertainment
- 13.3 percent obtained information about restaurants or bars
- 11.1 percent searched the Internet for products or services outside their local area
- 4 percent purchased a physical item that needed to be shipped (such as a book)
- 3 percent used a coupon from their phone
The study also said that 16.7 percent of people connected with a social network (such as MySpace or Facebook), which is up from 9.6 percent in 2008. The BIA/Kelsey study, which is called Mobile Market View, tracks mobile user behavior.
This wave of the BIA/Kelsey study, which was the third, was conducted in Oct. 2009 via an online 40-question survey. The study surveyed 504 U.S. mobile phone users aged 18 and older. The first wave was conducted in Sept. 2007 and the second wave was in Oct. 2008.