comScore has released data from its monthly wireless ecommerce dashboard, which tracks consumer shopping and purchasing behavior, including handsets and mobile data plans, at all of the major wireless carrier sites.
In terms of overall dollar sales on the carriers’ Web sites, the flagship phones being sold were significant revenue generators. Three of the four flagship phones (Apple iPhone, HTC G1, and Blackberry Storm) ranked as the top revenue driver on their respective sites, even though they ranked just inside the top ten models in terms of unit volume.
“Given what we saw with the other three carriers, it was surprising that the Samsung Instinct didn’t rank higher in terms of sales or unit revenue on the Sprint site, particularly given its strong performance overall for Sprint,” said Brian Jurutka, comScore vice president.
“This finding underscores some of the key differences between the online and offline sales channels, thereby giving carriers a better understanding of handset market dynamics and the actionable insights needed to modify their product offerings, messaging, and user experience depending on the channel.”
Discounts continue to boost handset until volume online, with the phone sales leader for AT&T being a refurbished version of the LG Shine. LG had the largest volume drivers on three of the four carrier sites, with the LG VX8350 on Verizon and LG Rumor on Sprint ranking as the most popular models. The Motorola RIZR Z3 had the highest unit volume on the T-Mobile site. The majority of these phones were provided to customers at no charge.
“Generally speaking, online is the place to go for free phones,” added Jurutka. “The LG Rumor, in particular, was a huge volume driver on Sprint’s site, with more than three times the unit volume of the next closest phone and 86 percent of the units being sold for free.”
A significant percentage of phones purchased on all carrier sites were free, an incentive that is usually offer to get customers to sign long-term phone and data plan agreements. Three-quarters of phones at the AT&T site were provided free, followed by T-Mobile (61%), Sprint (54%) and Verizon (48%).
