New research from Bango shows that consumers who buy content on the mobile web buy more content, and require less support and fewer refunds than users who buy content through Premium SMS. The mobile web also has three times as many add-on sales. This gives marketers a greater return for advertising costs.
“The mobile web gives consumers a payment experience they are already familiar with on the PC web,” said Martin Harris, Senior VP of Sales at Bango. “Because they can see the price and conditions of purchase before they click to pay and are billed, they feel much more comfortable with the whole experience.”
When text buyers purchase things like ringtones, games and wallpapers only 18% buy more than one download. Bango research claims that 46% of buyers who visit a browser and buy through a mobile website purchase more than one item.
Mobile web customers also appear to be more happy with their purchases, asking for refunds in less than 1% of transactions. SMS text buyers ask for refunds in 10-20% of all sales.
Caveat: Bango is a company that provides mobile phone web base services to entities that want to sell digital applications. Those who sell services over an SMS system may disagree with Bango’s research.