New research from eDigitalResearch and Portaltech Reply shows that 64% of UK smartphone owners are now using their mobile devices to shop online, a number that has quadrupled since June 2010.
44% of smartphone owners said they’d use their devices to browse even more in the coming months.
Overall, 84% of smartphone owners have used their devices to browse websites, while 77% are using their smartphones to research products. Shopping through an online mobile site remains more popular than shopping on a mobile app.
Derek Eccleston, Head of Research at eDigitalResearch, said “These results confirm that mCommerce has fundamentally revolutionised the way in which we shop and browse. The growth of mobile is completely unprecedented and the rate of change that we’ve tracked over the past two years is alarming. Back in June 2010, we predicted that smartphones were likely to play an increasingly significant part in consumer’s busy lifestyles, and whilst in 2011 we found that great strides had been made towards this, these latest set of results demonstrate that this trend is now irreversible. It is therefore essential that all retailers and brands make their mobile channels as accessible as possible to maximise the potential that mCommerce has to offer”.
Security, clear navigation and quick browsing were key features for mobile shoppers, who rated functionality and usability higher than branding and design.
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