Energy, telecommunications and airline firms are taking the lead in spending to engage consumers through their mobile devices, according to The New Digital Mobile Consumer global trend report. Commissioned by Tata Consultancy Services the leading IT services, consulting and business solutions firm, the research reveals that average expenditure within the companies surveyed in these sectors during 2012 was between $27 million to $31 million per company.

During 2012, energy companies will spend an average of $30.8 million per company in targeting mobile consumers, encompassing factors such as app development, customer service delivery through mobile devices, and mobile-friendly marketing campaigns. The telecommunications industry (consumer-focused) will prove to be the second biggest spender ($28.6 million) and airlines the third ($27.2 million). These three sectors have the highest proportion of total sales transactions, marketing campaigns and post-sales interactions conducted with consumers specifically through mobile devices.

A significant gap of almost $5 million in average annual expenditure separates these sectors from the next biggest spending industry – Automotive. Transportation and logistics companies have made the lowest level of investment, with an average of just $4.9 million.

Through 2015, however, the picture shifts. Airlines move to become the highest spending sector ($37 million per company in 2015). The telecommunications industry remains the second largest investor in these technologies and services ($35 million), whilst the consumer computer hardware and software industry will move into third place ($34 million). Energy companies fall to fourth ($31.8 million). Food and beverage manufacturers ($10 million) move below transportation and logistics ($11.4 million) at the bottom of the expenditure table.

“Today’s smartphones and tablets endowed with context sensors such as camera, GPS, compass and accelerometer are helping companies transform their connection with consumers into anytime-anywhere contextual interactions. The level of expenditure, the high commitment to developing mobile delivery channels and the increasing volume of mobile consumer transactions reflect a high level of transformational change some industries are undergoing due to the influence of consumer mobile devices,” comments Dr. Satya Ramaswamy, Vice President and Global Head, Mobility, TCS.

“The New Digital Mobile Consumer report has shown that most industries simply cannot ignore the relevance of the digital mobile consumer. The criticality of attuning products, content and services to a mobile consumption model is now business critical. We perceive that the firms, which best-adapt to this increasingly prevalent and influential audience segment are likely to reap significant dividends.”

The survey also explored the levels of change to products and services made by each industry. In 2012, the telecommunications industry reported the highest level of change (with an average score of 5.42 in a scale of 1 – 7). The consumer telecoms industry is at the frontline of delivering devices and wireless data packages to the consumer, and it has responded accordingly by marketing to and serving its customers through those devices. The retail (average score 4.87) and travel / hospitality / leisure (average score 4.84) sectors reported the second and third highest levels of change, offering consumers both high volumes of information and the opportunity to complete purchase transactions through mobile devices.

Through 2015, telecommunications providers will continue to show the highest level of change, with travel providers moving into second place. Entertainment / sports / media / publishing firms will move into third, as content delivery through mobile channels becomes increasingly commonplace. On average, 16% of the content provided by entertainment and media companies was viewed on mobile devices in 2012. This compares to 54% through traditional media (over the air or cable television, radio, print newspapers, etc.) and 31% through websites. But respondents in the sector expect the picture to change somewhat by 2015, with an average 25% of content views done through mobile devices, whilst traditional broadcast and print media views are predicted to drop to 42% of total content views.