New data from global research group Nielsen had revealed how mobile phone owners have embraced their devices to make the most of their shopping experience.
Today’s shoppers are well equipped to find the best offers online – and in-store – and to carry out research on items they are considering buying.
The exponential growth in smartphone adoption has led to consumers using their devices to maximise their shopping opportunities. Shoppers are carrying out pre-purchase research on product features and competitor price monitoring on the Internet – a better understanding of available products and pricing being the end result.
Shoppers have made the connection between price and value and want a quality product at a price that suits their budget. The retail intelligence report highlighted how 63 per cent of mobile shoppers are using their smartphones and tablets to carrying out competitor price monitoring across rival websites while shopping.
Consumers are also using their smartphones for in-store activities e.g. claiming mobile coupons (39 per cent) and using shopping lists (40 per cent). An incredible 78 per cent of smartphone owners used a store locator app to find a shop.
While smartphone owners are very active in-store, tablet owners prefer to use their devices to carry out online shopping at home. The Nielsen report revealed how 48 per cent of tablet owners made purchases on their devices – nine out of ten said they carried out these transactions at home. They are also researching products before making purchases (68 per cent) and reading online reviews (53 per cent).
Smartphones and tablets have led to consumers feeling better connected with other shoppers. They are better informed on products and pricing – sharing information on new products purchased, reviewing purchases for websites, telling others where the best deals are to be found and distinguishing between poor performing products and popular choices on social media platforms; 18 per cent of tablet owners are writing product reviews and 22 per cent of smart phone owners are leaving comments about their purchases on social media sites.
© 2012 Profitero
About Profitero
Pricing intelligence company Profitero provides retailers with actionable price intelligence data, monitoring over 50 million products across 4,000 eCommerce retailers every day, observing pricing, promotions and stock availability. We work with the world’s leading retailers, enabling them to acquire new customers and grow profit margins by monitoring and responding to changes in competitor pricing and promotional activity as they happen. For more information on Profitero price intelligence and competitor monitoring, visit www.profitero.com or email sales@profitero.com
