This, according to the results of a recent study that was conducted by Synchrony Financial.
Consumer financial services firm, Synchrony Financial has released the results of its 2015 Digital Study that underscores the importance of mobile shopping strategies for retailers that want to boost their customer experience and engage their shoppers.
The survey was held throughout March and April of this year, with the participation of 7,000 of the firm’s customers.
The customers were selected at random from throughout the country. The purpose was to build a better understanding of the way in which customers view mobile shopping in the retail experience, and what they expect from the offerings over their smartphones and tablets. There were a number of key findings that identified some important trends to retailers that will be keeping a focus on the tech expectations of consumers.
Among the primary findings of the study was that nearly 50 percent of respondents use mobile shopping.
Nearly one third of the survey participants will purchase a product after having seen it on social media. Moreover, it was also pointed out that about the same number of respondents to the survey said that the receipt of offers via text would push them to make an incremental shopping visit. Additional value offers, such as loyalty programs, free shipping, and personalized offers also proved to continue to be important to the people who completed this survey.
The report indicated that consumers are using mobile technology to an increasing degree. Adoption of m-commerce has been rising among central segments of the population. Of all of the study’s respondents, 45 percent said that at some point this year, they had already used a smartphone or tablet in order to complete a task that is related to shopping, such as reading or leaving reviews, researching a product, brand or store, sharing information over social media, or actually making a purchase. This represented an increase of 4 percent over the figure from 2014. When compared to 2013, it represented an increase of 9 percent.
As mobile shopping habits continue to be an increasingly important trend among all mobile devices and all age groups of shoppers, the report showed that retail habits are also continuing to change.
The most common purpose for shopping over smartphones and tablets will be to locate stores.
At a time in which there are scores of holiday shopping forecasts are starting to be released, the consensus appears to be that mobile commerce is going to be one of the most critical components of this vital season, despite the fact that a growing number of consumers will be headed to actual stores in order to make their purchases.
This implies that m-commerce and in-store shopping will complement one another, this year.
This means that it is important for brick and mortar shops to focus on mobile commerce not as its competition, but as a complement to its own ability to make a sale. Smartphones and tablets are set to play a very important role in the complete process of both shopping and decision making. Consumers will use their devices regardless of the fact that they will still go to stores in order to buy what they want.
For this reason, mobile commerce isn’t necessarily an independent shopping channel but one that works with others.
That said, while shoppers are looking to their mobile devices to learn more about the products that they are considering, to compare prices, and to find the places that sell the item, they still often prefer the experience of going to the store and seeing the items in person before they buy them. They also like the opportunity to have the item that they have purchased in their hands, instead of having to wait for it to be delivered.
According to the 2014 holiday shopping study conducted by Deloitte, which included the participation of 5,000 American consumers, the average holiday spending this year will be $1,299, which represents an increase of 13 percent over last year. Among all U.S. consumers 72 percent will be using their smartphones for shopping purposes, though this does not mean online purchases, exclusively. The report on the mobile commerce survey showed that the devices would also be used for the following purposes:
• 58 percent – to find a store location
• 52 percent – to obtain and compare prices
• 48 percent – for browsing products online
• 47 percent – to obtain information about a product
• 44 percent – to read product reviews
• 41 percent – to check the availability of a product
• 41 percent – to obtain sale information, discounts, offers, and coupons
• 36 percent – to use social networks to discuss products
• 35 percent – to purchase a product or service online
• 32 percent – to receive text message based deals from retailers
• 31 percent – to scan barcodes such as QR codes to learn more about a product.
