Even though consumers continue to worry that their private data is not entirely safe, they’re still shopping on smartphones.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) has released the result of a recent study and data analysis that has revealed that there is a growing number of people who are looking to mobile commerce as a part of their overall shopping process, regardless of the fact that worries about privacy remain high.
The research showed that 7 out of 10 people will use their smartphones for information while shopping.
While not all of those activities involve actually making a purchase, these mobile commerce behaviors remain quite important to the process that will eventually lead consumers to a purchase decision. For instance, the CEA found that about 70 percent of mobile device using shoppers will conduct an internet search using that smartphone in order to learn more information about a product while shopping.
Over half of shoppers were found to have preferred mobile commerce for learning about products while shopping.
That 58 percent said that looking something up on a smartphone or tablet was preferable to speaking to an employee while in store. This was particularly true among male shoppers as well as among those between the ages of 25 and 44.
The CES report also pointed out that even though consumers were using m-commerce tools despite the fact that about 61 percent of them also expressed concerns about privacy, and 58 percent were worried about security when using their smartphones while they shopped inside a brick and mortar store.
The CEA directory of industry and analysis, Steve Koenig, said that “Quick and reliable access to product information, availability and comparisons are the driving forces behind this trend.” He also added that “Mobile is undoubtedly changing the way consumers shop, but also likely redefining the role of salespeople at retail.”
The report, entitled “Managing the Consumerization of IT: Mobile Access for the BYOD World,” showed the following additional key mobile commerce usage findings:
• 70 percent of consumers use smartphones to find product information as they shop.
• 69 percent use their devices for a general search online while shopping.
• 52 percent would visit a website specific to the store while shopping.
• 47 percent would visit an app specific to the store while they shopped.
• 46 percent would visit a website specific to a manufacturer while shopping.
IBM’s report shows that smartphones lead the way in terms of online traffic. Approximately 28% of all online traffic to retail sites on Cyber Monday came from smartphones, while tablets accounted for 12% of all online traffic. Tablets were able to handle retail websites better than smartphones, however, with tablets accounting for 12.9% of all online sales made from a mobile device. Tablet users were more likely to spend money than smartphone users and would purchase products more frequently.