A new survey by performance marketing business Tradedoubler shows retailers who embrace mobile devices on their website are likely to see a rise in in-store purchases.
The survey based on research with European smartphone users asked the users what made them buy goods and where they did their research. Of the 2000 users canvassed 38 per cent of people who research a product on their mobile phone will subsequently go into a shop to buy it. The majority however (47%) of those researching on their smartphone will swap to a PC to complete their purchase, while only a quarter complete on their mobile and less than one in 10 (7%) complete on a tablet.
The report reveals that smartphone use while in-store could also mean lost business for retailers that lack an effective mobile customer engagement strategy. The 'showrooming' phenomenon is where shoppers first visit stores to look at products, but then turn to their mobile phones in order to find the best price, completing the purchase online with a competitor. This behaviour was revealed in the survey when 42 per cent of those who said they had used their mobiles in a shop revealed they had used it to track down a better deal elsewhere.
The report Shopping on a Mobile recommends that retailers looking to take advantage of mobile should adopt a seamless approach across online and off-line channels, reinforced by special daily deals, voucher codes, mobile-optimised websites and tracked affiliate programmes.
"Much has been written about mobile representing a potential nightmare scenario for high street retailers," said Dan Cohen, Market Unit Leader, Tradedoubler, "but our study shows that the opposite can be true as long as retailers are prepared to harness the potential of mobile, and not be afraid of closing a sale through different channels. We're finding that mobile search can be a tremendous catalyst to driving consumers onto the high street."
