A Third Of Smartphone Shoppers Make Weekly Purchases

A third of smartphone shoppers are using their mobiles to make weekly purchases, according to new research.

The number of weekly smartphone shoppers has doubled in the past 12 months to 32 per cent with another 25 per cent making monthly purchases, a study by eDigitalResearch and Portaltech has found.

The research, which has been tracking online shopper behaviour and smartphone use for four years, found that smartphone owners are increasingly using them to help make purchasing decisions. It found that 68 per cent admitted to using their mobile to browse, shop or find product information while out shopping which is becoming 'standard activity'.

That compared to 36 per cent 12 months ago. A fifth of those who used their phones while out shopping said they has gone as far as making a purchase in store.



'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,' said Eccleston.

'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,' he said.

Regular smartphone users are alos more likely to e open to offers or recommendations. While only 26 per cent of respondents would be 'very interested' to receive personalised offers or recommendations sent to their phones, that doubled to 50 per cent when the question was confined to weekly or monthly users.

For the first time the study also surveyed tablet owners behaviour separately. They were much heavier buyers than smartphone users with 90 per cent having used their device to browse web sites whilst 79 per cent had made a purchase.

'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,' said eDigitalResearch commercial director Derek Eccleston.