Almost half of smartphone users (48.2 percent) have now shopped online and on their mobile, increasing by a dramatic 13 percent in just nine short months, according to a study, which looked into the multichannel browsing and shopping habits of UK consumers.

Published: 08 Jun 2011

Almost half of smartphone users (48.2 percent) have now shopped online and on their mobile, increasing by a dramatic 13 percent in just nine short months, according to a study, which looked into the multichannel browsing and shopping habits of UK consumers.

New research from eDigitalResearch and Portaltech has highlighted that browsing via smartphone (mobile web browser or an app) on a weekly basis has almost doubled to 48.6 percent, with similar increases for those actually purchasing products via a smartphone from 10 percent to 19.8 percent.

Smartphone users who said they shopped online via the Internet on a weekly basis increased by over seven percent from 29.8 percent to 36.6 percent. Conversely, the proportion who said they never shopped online was roughly half of last June’s figure, dropping to just 3.2 percent. Browsing online via the web also increased slightly to 64.8 percent.

The research demonstrates to retailers the importance of developing both a mobile website and an app, as shopping and browsing across both platforms has increased, with a staggering 30 percent of smartphone users browsing mobile websites on a regular basis.

Key findings:

This latest research makes it clear that in just nine months, the researchers have witnessed a substantial increase in the rate of change in consumer behaviour and interaction with retail organisations. This again calls to mind the paradigm shift that occurred in consumer behaviour in the early years of the Internet – the obvious difference being the additional empowerment bestowed by portability and mobility, and all that they imply. The following findings refer to Smartphone users questioned.

• Respondents are shopping less in stores and more frequently online via the Internet. 48.2 percent of respondents now shop online and on their mobile, compared with just 35.2 percent in the last wave. In comparison, shopping in store has dropped to 56.6 percent from 72.7 percent.
• Shopping and browsing online via the web is still gathering pace with a 5.83 percent increase in those shopping online.
• Shopping via Smartphone web browsers has increased, by 5.8 percent, whilst researching and browsing via Smartphone web browsers has significantly increased by 14.3 percent
• Shopping via Smartphone apps has increased, by just over four percent, whilst researching and browsing via Smartphone apps has significantly increased by 14.34 percent.
• Smartphone owners have increased the use of their phones for researching / browsing at home, out and about and in store to compare products and prices.
• The number of Smartphone owners who said they expected to browse or purchase more on their phones in the next 12 months more than doubled to 46 percent.

Some interesting trends have emerged when it comes to how certain purchases are made by channel and by category sector. A key theme across all is that purchasing in store has declined significantly as smartphone customers adopt the most convenient and useful channel for browsing and shopping.

Travel and ticketing

Travel and ticketing – historically a sector in which consumers have been quick to adopt the Internet for both research and purchase – displays similar trends. Online purchase via the Internet stayed constant at around 57 percent. The trend away from physically visiting travel agent premises continued, with purchases there reduced from 28 percent to 23 percent. Bookings via catalogue reduced from 3.6 percent to 2.7 percent, but via call centre they increased from 2.8 percent to 3.7 percent. Booking via Smartphone app became more popular, increasing from – from 1.3 percent to 3.4 percent.