34% of online retail purchases now happen on a mobile device. The products that are bought on mobile are the ones that are in front of the customer at the moment of decision. Google defines these intent-rich moments as know-, go-, do- or buy-moments.

When people shop, their smartphone is their personal advisor and research assistant. If you want to win the battle for mobile sales, you need to understand how to be there in those critical moments.

Google’s view, “You’ve got to figure out new ways to show up with helpful information when those moments occur, whether it’s 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. There are two ways to do this:

i) Be there: Identify the most important micro-moments and commit to being there, whenever and wherever a shopper is searching, especially on mobile.

ii) Be useful: In a consumer’s moment of need, meet them by providing valuable information—whether it’s product reviews, video tutorials, or the ability to purchase right away.”

The problem that I see is that too often merchants focus simply on demographic targeting. If you do that, you miss less obvious buyers who are defined by their interests and motivations – their psychographic profile. It takes more data, but the results are worth it.

“By targeting on demographics alone, you may miss out on valuable consumers who may be in market at that moment. Consider this example: If you sell car seats and you target moms alone, you’d be missing out on relatives or friends who might be in the market to buy a car seat as a baby shower gift. You may also be wasting marketing dollars by targeting moms who already own a car seat or women without children.”

More here: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/mobile-shoppers-consumer-decision-journey.html

Intention Rich Interactions