Maxymiser: 39% Of Smartphone Owners Use Mobile In Store

By Pete Rizzo, Editor (@pete_rizzo_)

Maxymiser released a new study on August 28 that found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. consumers use a mobile phone or tablet either during or directly before shopping at retail stores.

Thirty-nine percent of consumers reported that they are most likely to use their mobile device in a physical store during a shopping trip. An additional 19 percent indicated that they were most likely to use a mobile device while on the way to store.

“This research points to a clear shift in consumers’ mobile behavior as well as an urgency among retailers to move mobile optimization to the top of their digital marketing priorities in 2013,” Paul Dunay, vice president of global marketing at Maxymiser, said in an August 28 statement. “Every moment they delay can result in a huge windfall not only in customer engagement and loyalty, but also in revenue.”

Supporting this assessment, Maxymiser found that mobile smartphone and tablet use is on the rise, irrespective of the buying process. Forty-one percent of respondents said they spent two hours or more using their smartphone or tablet, and 19 percent of these individuals spent three hours or more on a mobile devices. Only 23 percent spent less than one hour using a smartphone or a tablet.

The New York-based digital testing solution provider also examined the retail categories that are being most affected by mobile shoppers, and revealed how much U.S. retail shoppers are willing to spend on mobile.

In this PYMNTS.com Data Point, we’ll break down these findings, so you can see how rising mobile phone use is impacting retail shopping.

Mobile Is A Must For Electronics Retailers

Maxymiser found that the top three retail categories most affected by mobile phone use were electronics, apparel and food. Forty-six percent of mobile users were likely to visit an electronics retailer’s mobile website prior to going to a store.

Mobile office supply and sports product shoppers were least likely to first visit a mobile site before making a purchase, with just 2 percent and 1 percent of respondents reporting this activity, respectively.

The study also assessed how mobile factored into the retail shopping experience. Thirty-one percent of respondents used their mobile phones to make a purchase, 19 percent comparison shopped in-store and 14 percent used their device to find a store location.

Customer Experience Is Key For Mobile

The study found that 65 percent of shoppers reported that a user-friendly experience was the most important factor when they visited a mobile retail website. Here too, the report broke down the factors that consumers are seeking from their web experience.

Twenty percent of respondents said that fast-loading web pages were the most important factor in their experience, 12 percent cited easy-to-find search tools and 6 percent named image and text formatting.

These findings are notable for retailers, as 39 percent of respondents indicated that they would never return to a mobile website that provided a less-than-satisfactory experience.

How Much Are Customers Willing To Spend

Maxymiser also queried respondents about the amount of money they would be comfortable spending on a retail tablet or smartphone purchase. Thirty-five percent indicated they would spend $151 or more.  Just 18 percent said they would not spend more than $50.

This small minority aside, the findings echo recent studies that illustrate how important mobile is becoming to the retail buying experience. For example, just last week, comScore found that one in 10 U.S. eCommerce dollars is now spent via mobile phones.

For more facts and insights into how mobile is changing the market, view the full report here.