A new survey of European consumers confirms the trend for shoppers to use their smartphones to research products in-store.
The report from Tradedoubler found that 42% of smartphone owners use their device to compare prices in-store, while 13% claim to have switched stores after finding a better offer elsewhere.
Location-based offers or vouchers, however, help to secure the interest of a fifth of potential buyers.
We have previously reported on the need for retailers to offer free Wi-Fi in-stores to enhance the customer experience, even if some consumers use it to check prices against competitors.
Shoppers will still access the internet using 3G, so by offering Wi-Fi retailers can retain some control over the user experience and push out mobile vouchers or offer product information.
John Lewis and Debenhams both currently offer free internet access in their stores, and House of Fraser’s e-commerce director Andy Harding said last week that mobile is the glue that binds together the multichannel experience.
It digitises the consumer and allows you to merge offline and online environments, and that is the store of the future.
House of Fraser uses QR codes in-store to give access to product information or let consumers check-in, which then allows the company to target them with contextual advertising.
Tradedoubler’s survey also highlights the importance of mobile optimised sites.
A quarter (26%) of respondents said they would buy more frequently if websites were optimised, and 50% of UK respondents said they become frustrated with the mobile shopping experience.
And while predictions of future purchase intent should always be treated with caution, it does show that brands can no longer expect consumers to put up with a non-optimised site.
Looking at security, around half of respondents were concerned about the security of mobile as a payment platform, but 42% of smartphone
owners said they were interested in using their device as a mobile wallet.
This tallies with research by VoucherCodes.co.uk which found that 60% of British adults would avoid mobile payments, with security concerns (36%) the chief reason for avoiding the technology.
Harding is bullish on the use of mobile payments and NFC, predicting that smartphones will make credit cards almost obsolete within the next three years.
And the signs suggest he may be correct, with Visa and PayPal both announcing new mobile payments product recently.
Tradedoubler’s research involved more than 2,000 smartphone users in the UK, France, Germany and Sweden.
Reader comments (3)
10:30AM on 20th June 2012
It is still surprising that so many retailers are not acting on the opportunity that mobile presents. So many businesses still do not have a web presence that works effectively on mobile devices.
Creating a great mobile service that delivers all the feature that mobile users expect is simple, quick and does not have to be expensive.
Providers like the Mobileweb Company can typically deploy a fully featured state-of-the-art mobile web service between two and five days for any retailer. Everything is totally managed so it is very easy and low impact for any retailer.
When it really is this simple and the returns are easy to see. You have to ask why more retailers are not reacting?
12:49PM on 27th June 2012
Too many businesses are not putting enough resources towards their mobile marketing presence and are continuing to drag their heels. The same is happening with social media and it is taking too long for a lot of companies to realise the benefits that both tools can bring.
Search Specialist at Koozai
4:30PM on 27th June 2012
Great post. I think this figure will grow and grow. In-store apps could be the best way to make sure consumers purchase from their store.
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