• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, January 7, 2010

According to the Compete quarterly Smartphone Intelligence survey, smartphone owners are more comfortable buying from their handsets, but still have some site functionality problems. 8% of smartphone owners that tried to purchase a product on their device were unable to do so. 45% of those that abandoned the process reported that they did so because the site would not load, and an additional 38% left the site because it was not developed specifically for smartphone users.

Danielle Nohe, director of consumer technologies for Compete, points out that "... smartphone use is no longer limited to an exclusive group of tech savvy consumers. As... people grow more comfortable transacting, site owners must redesign around mobile shopping ease-of-use... "

Nonetheless, says the report, mobile commerce (m-commerce) is ready to explode in 2010. But Nohe cautions that marketers recognize the differences that vary by individual and device. For instance, he says "We're seeing notable behavior differences across devices... (as) users of the Android operating system share different characteristics than Blackberry and iPhone enthusiasts."

Maximum Willing To Spend Purchasing on Smartphone (% of Owners by Type of Smartphone)
	Spending Range (Dollars)
Type of Phone	<$10	10-25.01	25.01-50	50.01-75	75.01-100	100.1-25	250.01-500	>500
Android	40%	10	6	3	9	3	18	11
Windows	50	11	10	5	10	6	5	4
iPhone	28	10	14	6	12	11	9	9
Blackberry	51	11	10	6	8	7	5	2
Palm	55	11	7	4	10	4	4	5
Source: Compete Smartphone Intelligence Survey, Q3 2009

Key findings from Compete's Q3 2009 Smartphone Intelligence survey include:

• 37% of smartphone owners have purchased something non-mobile with their handset in the past 6 months
• 19% of total smartphone owners have purchased music from their device, 14% have purchased books, DVDs, or video games and 12% have purchased movie tickets
• 40% of Android owners and 51% of Blackberry owners would spend $500 or more to buy a product from their mobile phone, compared to 9% of iPhone owners
• The most popular mobile shopping-related activities are research related: 41% of iPhone users and 43% of Android users are most likely to check sale prices at alternative locations from their mobile phones while they are shopping
• The second most likely activity is accessing consumer reviews, with 39% of iPhone owners and 31% of Android owners investigating reviews from their handset before they purchase
• While m-commerce is poised for explosive growth in 2010, consumers are still more likely to abandon mobile purchasing on sites that are not optimized for the on-the-go experience, similar to shopping cart abandonment in the early days of e-commerce.

Shopping Use of SmartPhone Away From Computer (% of SmartPhone Owner Respondents Using At All)
Use of Smartphone	% of Respondents
Look up shopping info about item to purchase online	68%
Find address & store hours of preferred store	68
Review a product description	52
Look at 3rd party or consumer review of product while in store	45
Check order status originally placed online	43
Look for retailer or product coupons	43
Check for availability of in-store pickup	40
Check price of in store item as "good deal"	36
Make purchase after seeing item in store	34
Make purchase if product not available in store	28
Make purchase without seeing item in store	28
Check status of rebate submitted	24
Source: Compete Smartphone Intelligence Survey, Q3 2009

Compete's Smartphone Intelligence combines consumer insights with behavioral data to reveal how smartphone owners are using their phones.

For additional information about this study, please visit here.