Mobile Shopping Continues to Surge

by Ben B.

Virtual stores, like the Tesco's in South Korea and others, have yet to take the world by storm. However, smartphone adoption is having a profound – if not slightly stealthier impact on shopper behavior. Google has already established that smartphones are the starting point of most of our daily media consumption. We also know that the use of mobile coupons has doubled in both 2011 and 2012 in the US, which helps explains Apple’s decision to launch Passbook. Econsultancy’s latest research, "The Multichannel Retail Survey" shows that the number of consumers who have made a purchase on mobile since 2011 has roughly doubled in the UK from 13% to 25%, and increased from 12% to 28% in the US. The research also shows that 32% of UK consumers, and 41% of US consumers have used their mobile to find a retailer’s nearest store or opening times. In the UK, 43% of respondents said they had used their mobile to compare prices and look at product reviews while out shopping, (up from 19% in 2011). Among US consumers the number has increased from 20% last year to 50% in the same period of time. For retailers and brands especially, this trend brings new challenges but also represents an unprecedented opportunity to connect with shoppers throughout the whole purchase process –from the research phase to conversion and retention. Our whitepaper “The Showrooming Effect. How Retailers can use QR Codes to Create Opportunity” outlines several directions to tap into this opportunity. For expert advice on mobile engagement and how to reach your consumers through their smartphones, please visit www.scanlife.com , contact us at info@scanlife.com.  OR you can join the discussions on the “Exchanging Smarter Ideas on Mobile Engagement” LinkedIn group.