Most Consumers Don't Know When Their Wireless Contract Ends

Originally posted October 1, 2010

A recent Best Buy Mobile Survey announced that more than half of US cellphone owners have no idea of the month and year when their wireless contract expires.

Only 40% of those surveyed received reminders as to when their contract was about to expire. This means that customers are mis-informed when it comes to upgrades and plan options available to them.

Shawn Score, Best Buy Mobile's president, comments "When it comes to mobile solutions available today, many consumers are not armed with the right information to truly get the most out of their mobile phone."

This is something that Canadian wireless providers see too. I have lost count of the number of people that have come into our locations, having purchased their phone elsewhere, with no idea how to use the phone, or even why they purchased it in the first place.

One suggestion is to have a customer loyalty program that provides them with information to stop them using devices that are years old, and moving them to something that is going to better suit their needs. And with the advent of so many different applications for the hundred of smartphones out there, wireless retailers can even create loyalty programs that work via text, email, mobile coupons or online apps. The key? Simply staying in touch with those customers.

Although the survey was conducted in the US, Canadian wireless providers are likely to see similar trends. Some other facts found include the following:

• 67% of consumers indicated “carriers” were their main influence when buying a phone
• 23% of respondents chose the phone they bought based on the device itself
• 10% chose a phone based on its operating platform (e.g. iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, etc.)
• Other phone purchasing priorities include: music, video and camera (45%), GPS navigation (32%), intent to replace landline phone (29%), social networking capability (26%), Wi-Fi (26%), e-commerce capability (15%), movie downloads (15%) and games (14%).

Thanks go to IQMetrix News & Views for the original story (http://tinyurl.com/2e8s5og).