A new study from the Mobile Marketing Association and Lightspeed Research says 24% of UK mobile users will be searching for Christmas gift ideas on their mobile phones this year. (In France it’s just 19% and in Germany it’s 32%).
In addition, 16% of UK consumers plan to use their mobile phone to purchase or pay for gifts; a figure that’s higher than the result from Germany (14%) and France (5%).
56% of people using their mobile phones for Christmas shopping expect to do so before leaving for stores, with 40% planning to use their travelling time for mobile shopping and 11% expecting to use their phone when waiting at the checkout. However, there’s also a strong link between mobile shopping and physical purchases: 19% of Brits using their mobile phone as part of Christmas shopping are likely to search for the location of a ‘real’ shop.
Overall, 66% of UK mobile phone owners said they expected to use their mobile for Christmas shopping and organising (excluding making phone calls).
Peter A Johnson, the MMA’s vice president of market intelligence and author of the study, said “The findings from the latest research demonstrate the growing opportunity for European retailers to readdress the mobile channel to target end users. Consumers are now using their mobiles for a number of shopping related activities which marketers need to be aware of when optimising both their mobile and in-store retail experiences.”