ForeSee released a mobile shopping study that shows the explosive growth of mobile shopping. Mobile shoppers compare price information, product details and look at reviews. Mobile shoppers even look at competitor websites while in the store.
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Shoppers are using mobile phones to access websites and apps more
than ever before. 33% of respondents have used their phone to
access a retailer website, and an additional 26% indicated they plan
to access retailer websites or mobile apps by phone in the future. -
Mobile purchase behavior is exploding. A total of 11% of web
shoppers reported having made a purchase from their phones this
holiday season, compared to only 2% at this time last year. -
Shoppers use their phones for a variety of tasks. The majority
of shoppers who used their phones compared price information
(56%). Shoppers also used their phones to compare different products
(46%), to look up product specifications (35%), and to view product
reviews (27%).
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Shoppers use their phones to look at competitor websites. While
in physical stores, more than two-thirds of mobile shoppers (69%) used
their phones to visit the store's own website, but nearly half (46%)
also used their phones to access a competitor's website. -
Traditional websites satisfy shoppers more than mobile sites and
apps. In general, shoppers rate their satisfaction with retail
websites significantly higher (78 on the study's 100-point scale) than
their satisfaction with mobile experiences (apps and sites) (75). - "It's true that mobile sites have far less maturity than traditional
e-retail websites," said Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee
Results. "But I'm not sure that matters to consumers. Their
expectations are being set by the best websites and the best mobile
experiences. They aren't going to have a lot of patience for excuses
about the challenges that mobile shopping presents when it comes to
design and usability. Retailers need to step up their game in this
area." -
Good experiences with mobile sites and apps have critical
cross-channel impact. Shoppers who are highly satisfied with a
mobile experience say they are 30% more likely to buy from that
retailer online and 30% more likely to buy offline, as well as being
far more likely to return to the main website, recommend it, and be
loyal to the brand.
"It
looks like more than half of all shoppers will soon be using their
mobile phones for retail purposes," said Kevin Ertell, Vice President
of Retail Strategy at ForeSee Results and author of today's report.
"Any retailer not actively working to develop, measure, and refine its
mobile experience is leaving money on the table for competitors."
"Retailers cannot afford to ignore or even neglect the
mobile experience and assume it won't hurt their traditional online or
in-store business," added Ertell.