According to new research from Dynatrace (formerly Compuware APM), 37% of U.S. smartphone and tablet users say they plan to do more of their shopping via their mobile devices than they will in-stores this holiday season.
In addition to that, in the report based on 1,353 U.S. smartphones and/or tablets owners, 42% of mobile users plan to do more shopping on their mobile devices this holiday season than they did last holiday season.
The report also indicated that 25% of mobile users would make purchases on their smart devices even while standing in the aisles of stores. Dynatrace’s Director of Omnichannel Strategy Erwan Paccard said, “Mobile shopping has transformed holiday commerce—in fact, retailers are at a tipping point, as they must perform for mobile users or perish at the hands of competitors.” Paccard then went on to say, “Smartphones and tablets are accompanying customers into stores and becoming virtual shopping assistants. And when users encounter poor-performing mobile sites and apps, they buy from competitors and broadcast their frustrations. Retailers who don’t prepare for the mobile holiday shopping storm do so at their own peril.”
Harris Poll conducted the survey in October, and here were some of their other findings:
- 56% of smartphone/tablet users intend on utilizing their devices to search for and/or buy gifts this holiday season. That’s a 7% increase from last year.
- Merchants would discover 76% of Gen Y shoppers (age 18-34) on their smartphones and tablets and would use their devices to find/buy gifts this holiday season–a 10% increase from last year. 61% also indicate that they would do more of their holiday shopping via mobile this year than the year before.
- The poll also found that 26% of smartphone/tablet owners would use their devices to make final purchases even while they are at the store’s physical location; for millennials, this number increases to 41%. Furthermore, 53% of users would compare prices, 47% would use their smart phone or tablets to read product reviews and 51% would utilize their device to download coupons.
- If a mobile site or app fails, it was found that 46% of smartphone/tablet owners would shop elsewhere. This increased by 9% from the year prior. Once connected to the site, there is an 80% chance that they would abandon the mobile app or website if it seems buggy, slow or prone to crashes, and would ultimately shop somewhere else.
- Utilizing social media to complain about bad online shopping experiences is a growing behavior for customers and millennials have taken the lead on this, with a 44% chance of jumping on social media to air out frustrations.
- The report also specified that 45% of all smartphone and/or tablet owners, and 59% of Millennials, would rather use a mobile app instead of mobile web sites. In the year prior, 34% of all smartphone/tablet users indicated that they would be utilizing company-specific mobile applications.
