Commentary

85% Use Smartphones in Stores, 55% Changed How They Shop

by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, May 12, 2015

While most consumers still prefer to shop in physical stores, the smartphone has increasingly become an integral part of in-store behavior.

And while the phone isn’t being used primarily for payments, it is having a significant impact on the shopping trip, based on a new global study.

Most consumers (85%) globally say that they have used their smartphone in-store, according to the DigitasLBi Connected Commerce study.

This is an increase from 72% just a year ago.

And it’s not only using a smartphone in a store but the rather the impact it’s having.

The majority (55%) of smartphone users say the Internet and smartphones have changed the way they shop in a store.

Perhaps more significantly, 77% of Internet users have been influenced by mobile during the purchase process.

While in a store, many shoppers are open to new digital services.

For example, 71% of U.S. consumers are willing to receive personalized, money-off vouchers or special offers on their smartphone.

In terms of online shopping behavior by device, laptop purchasing leads the way, but for only half of buying activity. The purchasing device least used is the tablet.

Of the 75% who purchased an item online within the last 30 days, here’s the device they used:

50% -- Laptop
41% -- Desktop
28% -- Smartphone
20% -- Tablet

This is the second year of the study of multi-platform shopping trends across 17 countries (Australia, Belgium, China, Denmark, UAE, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, U.K. and the U.S.)

The study comprised an online survey of 1,000 online adults in each country.

An interesting insight in the study is that the main source of information for shoppers is a retailer website or app in terms of resources they use when looking for information on a product or service.

The store itself is the second choice, followed by friends and family and then price comparison sites.

Mobile shoppers are looking to retailers, whether via their app, website or physical store. No matter the method, consumers are looking to retailers for information.

international, mcommerce, mobile, research

5 comments about "85% Use Smartphones in Stores, 55% Changed How They Shop".

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Devika Girish from MobStac, May 20, 2015 at 8:10 a.m.
Great post Chuck. Thanks for sharing. According to Deloitte Digital's latest study, "Navigating the New Digital Divide,”Digital interactions are expected to influence 64 cents of every dollar spent in retail stores by the end of 2015, or $2.2 trillion. Given that, globally 85% of consumers use smartphones in store. In fact all this coupled with beacons predicted to directly influence over $4 billion worth of US retail sales this year and retail brands are all set to move out of the pilot phase into mainstream beacon deployments effecting payments, and loyalty programs. Another important fact is that, merely deploying beacons won’t give you an edge. Retailers need to invest in data analytics and use this intelligence to drive conversions and increase revenue. For this, it is crucial that retailers have a solid understanding of the metrics involved in data-driven decision making. We have discussed in detail on what are the different metrics that brick and mortar store retailers need to measure to offer a better experience to shoppers here. It talks about various metrics to be tracked under various segments- right from customer path to loyalty and customer engagement:

http://blog.mobstac.com/2015/05/beacon-analytics-in-retail-4-essential-metrics-for-retail

Reply

Ed Papazian from Media Dynamics Inc, May 20, 2015 at 8:41 a.m.

It is very, very, difficult to attribute store sales to any single media element. The return-on-investment data modelers have been turning out reports for years that attepmt to do this, but with extremely limited success. There are too many interlocking variables. For example, let's say that 54% of a sample of consumers claim to have been influenced, generally ( about all types of products) by smartphone ads. Does that mean that smartphone ads "drive" 54% of store sales on a brand by brand basis? Obviously not. How about the cummulative impact of other advertising---notably the motivating type you see on TV? Were the sales actually motivated by TV comercials in conjunction with other promotional activities and word-of-mouth endorsements...as well as digital ads? Or is ingrained brand loyalty the main factor in many cases? Is it really possible to say smartphones, all by themselves, were responsible for X amount of sales?

To be fair, the article and comments, above, do not make such claims. Rather, they use the word "influence", which is fine. Unfortunately, a lot of people may misinterpret this kind of research to support an agenda. Handle with care, folks.

Kevin Horne from Verizon, May 21, 2015 at 11:18 a.m.

Are the actual questions in this survey written as poorly as the results are presented in this article? Example: Have you ever used a smartphone in a store? (emphasis mine) "Why yes, I received a call from my sister while in ShopRite the other day, so i guess I will answer 'yes' to that one."

This one is even better. "The majority [BARELY ed.] (55%) of smartphone users say the Internet and smartphones have changed the way they shop in a store." That one seems almost embarrassing not to be near 100% in the year 2015.

Anyone using this "info" for anything other than seat of the pants directional flavor is on a foll's errand,,,

Kevin Horne from Verizon, May 21, 2015 at 11:18 a.m.

or even a fool's errand...

Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, May 21, 2015 at 1:19 p.m.

Right, Devika, beacons beind deployed is just the tip of hte iceberg.