Member Article

Are Mobile Devices Taking Over Online Shopping?

Not according to the latest consumer research by leading global customer experience and business process outsourcing business, Webhelp.

According to the 500 UK consumers surveyed, traditional desktop or laptop computers accounted for almost two thirds (65%) of online shopping purchases, with less than a quarter of people (23%) saying they used a smartphone and just 12% saying they had used a tablet for their most recent online purchase. The laptop was definitely the most popular choice with 41% of people surveyed saying this was the device they had made their most recent online purchase on.

This flies in the face of much recent research which suggests that shoppers are switching to mobile devices to make online purchases. However, further data from Webhelp’s latest survey is consistent with this unexpected finding.

When asked whether they had made their most recent online purchase using a website or an app, the overwhelming answer was website (82%).

And when asked where they were when they made their most recent purchase 91% of those surveyed said they were at home. 5% of people said they had made their latest online purchase at work, 2% were on public transport and just 1% said they were in a café, bar or restaurant.

Then looking at the time of day people were most likely to have made their latest online purchase, more than one third of people (35%) said they had shopped between 5 and 9pm. Another quarter (24%) shopped between 2 and 5pm, with 15% shopping at lunchtime (12-2pm), 14% shopping in the morning (9am-12pm), 7% doing at night (9pm-6am) and 5% making a quick pre-breakfast purchase (6-9am).

This starts to build up a picture of people shopping online at home from their laptop after work in the evening. Could it be that people are using mobile devices to browse but when it comes to the purchase point they wait until they are at home in front of their laptop before buying?

David Turner, CEO of Webhelp UK, India and SA, said: “Despite the increase in the amount of people using mobile devices, according to our research this is not filtering through to the purchase point as well as it could. For online retailers it is crucial to ensure the purchasing and check out options are as easy to navigate on a mobile device as they are on a laptop or desktop and that their customers are confident the same levels of security around payment and personal data apply across both apps and websites. Online retailers able to capitalise on impulse purchases and secure their customers on whichever device they are using at whatever time of day, will set themselves apart from the competition.

Encouraging customers to move to shopping on apps and via mobile devices is a clear opportunity for online retailers. Customer experience experts such as Webhelp can ensure they have the data and insight to make those investments wisely.“

http://www.webhelp.com/en-gb/news-insights/news/are-mobile-devices-taking-over-online-shopping/

ENDS

Press information: Heather Astbury, head of PR at Webhelp, on +44(0)7825 593242 heather.astbury@uk.webhelp.com

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Heather Astbury .