Number of smartphone shoppers making purchases on a weekly basis doubles since 2012
New research has suggested that the number of smartphone shoppers using their mobiles to make a purchase on a weekly basis has almost doubled in the last twelve months to reach 32%.
The study of smartphone owners by eDigitalResearch and Portaltech Reply also found that an additional 25% are now purchasing items via their smartphones every month.
With smartphone owners increasingly using their mobile devices to help them make purchase decisions when outside the home, the study found that 68% of respondents said that they had used their mobile to browse, shop or find product information when out shopping, a 36% increase on a year ago. Of those, 20% said they had used their mobile just to make a purchase in store.
Derek Eccleston, commercial director at eDigitalResearch, said: “It is extremely clear from this latest set of results that mobile devices are playing an even bigger part in consumer shopping journeys and are especially starting to have a bigger influence on purchases made whilst out shopping.
“Whilst some retailers are sceptical of in store smartphone shoppers, worried that it will lead to too much price comparison and an increase in competitor sales, our research suggests that the majority of in store smartphone users are actually using their devices to browse websites rather than making a purchase. Retailers should therefore be considering in store initiatives, such as free internet access to their customers, to help enhance shopper’s overall experience with their brand and increase engagement levels.”
The study also looked at the opportunities for retailers to connect and engage with mobile customers and found that 26% of respondents would be ‘very interested’ in receiving personalised offers or recommendations sent to their smartphone direct from retailers as they enter stores.
However, when looking at those shoppers who made mobile purchases on a regular basis (weekly and monthly), the figure doubled to 50%.
Mark Adams, partner at Portaltech Reply, added: “The most important clarification from our research is that mobile is now all pervasive, its use as a browsing and purchasing channel for customers has become mainstream and when we think mobile we also need to think tablet devices since purchasing via a tablet device has higher conversion rates than smartphone. In addition to this we now need to address the usage of in-store browsing via mobile devices since this has become a standard activity. All of this means a mobile strategy is central to a retailers’ multi-channel strategy and we need to incorporate the mobile experience from the ground up when designing and implementing a multi-channel customer experience.”
For the first time, the research also surveyed tablet device owners to better understand their shopping and browsing habits. The results show that shopping is one of the most popular tablet related activities; 90% of tablet owners had used their device to browse websites, whilst 79% had made a purchase.
Hear the latest mobile retailing strategies and network with like-minded peers at the Retail Bulletin’s 3rd Mobile Retailing Summit, 24th September 2013. Speakers confirmed so far include The Body Shop, Domino’s Pizza Group, John Lewis, Asda, IMRG, Mobileweb Company, Economist Intelligence Unit. Click here for programme details and registration.
