MEDIA RELEASE PR37030
Virtual Market Climbs While Real World Retail Bombs
NEW YORK, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Cellufun Becomes Largest Marketplace for Mobile Virtual Goods in North America
While retailers are once again forecasting meager sales this holiday season,
there is one sector of the market expected to do well: companies selling virtual
goods. Cellufun (m.Cellufun.com), the world's largest mobile social gaming community,
had over 2.5 million transactions in the first three months after introducing virtual
goods into its mobile marketplace.
"We are now the largest and fastest growing marketplace in North America for
mobile virtual goods. Cellufun members are encouraging their friends to purchase
virtual goods on an unprecedented scale," said Cellufun CEO Neil Edwards. "It doesn't
take a retail expert to figure out that virtual goods are the hot sector now among
mainstream consumers. The success of these numbers shows that in a down economy,
users are willing to splurge on items that may be out of reach in the real world."
Cellufun offers over 3,500 items for sale, and the company adds virtual goods
daily. Soon Cellufun will allow individual members or companies to author and sell
their own virtual goods in their mobile marketplace, similar to an eBay-like open
market.
From July 2009 until October 2009, Cellufun users purchased more than 2.5 million
goods:
-- 30% of all transactions were clothes and fashion accessories
-- Cellufun users buy customized outfits for their avatars. With women
generating 65% of transactions, the company sold 4,051 necklaces,
6,807 dresses, and 11,070 pairs of women's designer shoes.
-- 5% of all transactions were for virtual pets
-- Cellufun offers virtual pets for adoption along with the purchase of
goods, like kibble and special exercise equipment, for their
animals. Users purchased 4,667 premium goldfish pets.
-- 40% of all transactions were for game related items
-- Cellufun offers several items for purchase which give in-game
competitive advantages to users.
-- 25% of all transactions were flirts and greetings
-- Animated greetings called FunFlirts can be sent from one Cellufun
member to another or to non-members via email or SMS.
Prices for virtual goods range from $.05 for virtual kisses to $4.00 for
designers dresses to $15.00 for the rare dragons up for adoption in Cellufun's
virtual pet store. Members aged 24-49 led the online purchases. Their participation
accounted for almost three-quarters of the total transactions.
Virtual goods are non-physical objects that are purchased or exchanged for use
within online social, gaming, or dating communities. A virtual good has no intrinsic
value in the real world beyond personal use value to the consumer buying the item. In
North America, companies have thus far only created virtual goods markets for
computer users. Yet, global demand has grown exponentially since 2007 and is now a $5
billion dollar market. Much of this activity has occurred in Asia, where many
consumers use their mobile phones to make purchases. Cellufun is the first US company
to anticipate this trend, and now allows members to purchase and use virtual goods on
any mobile phone, wherever they may be. The company anticipates that, by the end of
2010, virtual goods revenues will outpace their advertising revenues by a large
margin.
About Cellufun
Cellufun is the world's largest mobile social and gaming community where people
meet, shop, and play social games. It is available in 10 languages on any phone with
a data plan with no download required. Cellufun partners with mobile operators and
media companies to deliver branded entertainment and custom-designed mobile marketing
solutions. Cellufun garners over 200 million page views per month.
Keith Katz, Cellufun, +1-212-385-2255
Joel Mazmanian, Rubenstein PR, +1-212-843-8295, jmazmanian@rubensteinpr.com
SOURCE: Cellufun
CONTACT: Keith Katz,
+1-212-385-2255;
Joel Mazmanian,
+1-212-843-8295,
jmazmanian@rubensteinpr.com
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