Introducing 4G mobile phone services to the UK could help boost the retail economy by around £1.8 billion this year, according to figures compiled by retail analysts Conlumino and published by eBay. That’s a 113% year-on-year increase in mobile shopping when compared to 2012.
The research shows 55% of consumers are using mobile devices more for shopping now than they were this time last year. In fact, just under a third of all UK adults now use a smartphone for some aspect of their shopping while around one in ten use a smartphone for actual purchases.
Speed (50.3%) and reliability (49.6%) were shown to be the major frustrations for UK mobile shoppers. A potential mobile shopping ‘uplift’ was then calculated for people who had a faster, more reliable connection, resulting in the figure of £1.8 billion.
Olivier Ropars, Senior Director of m-commerce, eBay Europe, said “Consumers today want convenience and speed. The arrival of universal 4G will bring with it a more immersive, instant and intimate shopping experience than ever before – putting the most exciting features of mobile retail as we know it into high definition. It won’t just turbo-charge the way we shop. It will truly give us the ability to shop anytime, anywhere. That means an extra £1.8bn of consumer spending up for grabs. Retailers must act now and think about the virtual shop window, to turn this huge opportunity into an exciting reality.”
An item is purchased every second on eBay in the UK via a mobile device, according to the latest sales figures from the company.