The latest consumer behavior report from Experian’s PriceGrabber.com on smartphone shopping behavior reveals an increase in consumer mobile shopping activity and a trend toward buying digital content and consumer electronics from a mobile phone.

The survey data reveals that 57 percent of consumers who make a purchase with their Web-enabled phones bought consumer electronics. Twenty-two percent of consumers plan to purchase from their mobile device in the next 12 months.

“Our smartphone shopping survey shows that more consumers are actively shopping from their mobile devices,” said Barbary Brunner, chief marketing officer at PriceGrabber.com, Los Angeles.

“Consumers are not only researching products, they are also making purchases and comparing prices,” she said. “When purchasing from a mobile device, consumers currently favor digital content like apps and ringtones, as well as consumer electronics.

“By providing all the tools and information that consumers need to make purchases in a format that is easily consumed on mobile devices, retailers can drive more in-store traffic and ultimately increase sales.”

PriceGrabber.com, a part of Experian, is an online shopping site with more than 11,000 merchants and more than 23 million unique shoppers monthly.

Mobile shopping going mainstream
This PriceGrabber.com report includes survey responses from 2,445 online consumers collected from March 26 to April 12, 2010.
 

Ms. Brunner said that PriceGrabber.com survey data reveals consumer acceleration toward mobile commerce over the past year and predicts an increase in mobile shopping for the coming year.

Survey respondents indicated that their increases in mobile shopping activities are closely tied to new developments in mobile hardware and software.

Mobile commerce is accelerating with more consumers owning a 3G-enabled smartphone:

• Fifty-three percent of online consumers own a smartphone or other Web-enabled phone

• Ownership of 3G-compatible Web-enabled phones has grown from 48 percent to 64 percent in the past year

• There has been an increase in the use of Web-enabled phones for comparison shopping and purchasing since 2009

Web-enabled phone owners have increased their mobile shopping activities in the past year:

• Twenty-two percent of consumers use their phone to check prices, compared with 16 percent in 2009

• Twenty-one percent of Web-enabled phone owners use their phone to research products, compared with 16 percent in 2009

• Nineteen percent of consumers use their phone to browse for products, compared with 14 percent in 2009

• Thirteen percent of Web-enabled phone owners use their phone to research products, compared with 10 percent in 2009

Thirteen percent of consumers indicated purchasing from their Web-enabled phone. Here is what they purchased:

• Sixty-one percent of consumers with Web-enabled phones have used their phone to purchase ringtones and apps

• Fifty-seven percent of consumers with Web-enabled phones have used their phone to purchase consumer electronics

• Forty-two percent of consumers with Web-enabled phones have used their phone to purchase books

• Thirty-four percent of consumers with Web-enabled phones have used their phone to purchase clothing

• Sixteen percent of consumers with Web-enabled phones have used their phone to purchase jewelry

Mobile tools for retailers
Businesses are looking for innovative ways to build relationship with consumers, and technology developments are allowing a new and transparent two-way dialogue between brand owners, retailers and consumers.

“Because mobile is an anywhere/anytime device it can enable a brand or retailer to connect with consumers at their moment of greatest interest or need and is most meaningful for the retailer,” Ms. Brunner said.

“Mobile devices reduce the gap between the virtual and the physical world, allowing for greater efficiency for and value to both the purchaser and the seller,” she said.

“PriceGrabber’s mobile applications were designed specifically to broker this value relationship between the consumer and the retailer.”

The trend towards mobile shopping is being driven by a number of different factors, most significantly the advances in both hardware and software development in this category, which is closely linked to increasing consumer demand.

“Despite the recent recession, ‘having the latest’ continues to be a driving factor for mobile consumers and this has resulted in the mainstream adoption of smartphones and 3G networks,” Ms. Brunner said.

“The recession has spurred a culture of bargain hunters and the desire to research and get the best deal on-the-go has also had a role in driving the surge of mobile shopping. Shoppers became and remain very price conscious,” she said.

“Mobile shopping apps, like those offered by PriceGrabber, give shoppers access to the lowest prices and product information anytime, anywhere enabling them to find the best deals available.”

Mobile shopping applications have empowered consumers to have constant access to the best deals.

Ms. Brunner said that in 2009, consumers started using their phones to evaluate deals when shopping Black Friday sales in bricks-and-morter stores.

“We expect mobile shopping to play an even more significant role during the 2010 holiday shopping season with more consumers purchasing and setting prices alerts from their mobile devices, as well as evaluating deals real-time while they are doing their in-store shopping,” Ms. Barbary said.

“As our survey data shows, consumers have become more at ease with making purchases from their mobile phone,” she said. “We believe that mobile shopping currently is where online shopping was 15 years ago.”

Longer-term, mobile will completely transform the way consumers research, evaluate and purchase, according to PriceGrabber.com.

“As more sophisticated technology creates higher-quality portable, always-available online experiences, and as more inputs such as reviews and recommendations from trusted sources get aggregated into an easily-consumed experience, more consumers will become comfortable with and fluent in mobile shopping,” Ms. Barbary said.