Arts Marketers -- you know the news: mobile is the future and the future is here.  Data is necessary to navigate that space, and a recent research report by Jack Loechner breaking down the recent white paper by MobileFirstWorld offers some excellent data on mobile behaviors and strategies to improve on the current national rate of cart abandonment:  78%. 

Here is some startling data that might convince you that mobile is here.  Over 30% of the human populations has a smartphone.  And once in a user's hand, he checks it over 150 times per day.

 "In 2015, that averaged 2 hours and 8 minutes each day browsing and interacting with mobile phone apps, and that number will just continue to grow." If 37% of retail websites are viewed on mobile but 78% of those customer's abandon their carts -- what is a marketing / sales department to do?

Here is a quick summary with arts applications outlined for immediate use:

1. In-App Messaging: AMT Lab doesn't support building a custom app as they are expensive to create and maintain for the average arts organization.  BUT apps can deliver results in the right circumstances. Retention of an app is only 13% unless the app provides in-app messages, particularly those that are event based. Even with high-performing app behaviors, they only have a 47% retention rate.  But 47% is better than 13% and conversion in the right demographic is important. Thus, a savvy arts manager must balance the financial opportunity of reversing cart abandonment on mobile via event-based, in-app messages to the actual cost of the app.

2. Push notifications:  If you are in an app then encourage and reward customers for turning on push notifications. Reminding them of events, reduced prices, and other incentive moves to converting  an abandoned cart are demonstrably successful.

3. SMS text messaging: Customers like to receive text messages.  Text messages have a 98% open rate, 29% response rate with 47% of that group converting.  

If customers are checking their phones 150 times or more per day, let's hope they begin converting as patrons and donors for the arts.