Although the numbers for how many mobile users actually using their smartphones and tablets for holiday shopping are still fuzzy, new research suggests that U.S. smartphone owners actually picked up on the mobile shopping trend well ahead of Black Friday.
The latest survey from comScore found that 38 percent of smartphone owners used their smartphones to make a purchase at least once in the course of their device ownership.
More so, Mark Donovan, comScore’s senior vice president for mobile, pointed towards September as a peak moment for mobile shopping, explaining in prepared remarks that two-thirds of all smartphone owners performed “shopping activities on their phones, including comparing products and prices, searching for coupons, taking product pictures or locating a retail store.”
Donovan attributes this trend to smartphone adoption, citing that “mobile is becoming a central part in the shopping funnel for many consumers.”
Considering there are currently 90 million smartphone owners in the U.S., retailers without a well-developed mobile strategy are not only missing a tremendous opportunity with these customers but also risk becoming obsolete in the minds of these digital omnivores.
Unsurprisingly, digital purchases (i.e. digital music, movies, ringtones, e-books, etc.) were the most common products bought on mobile devices with 47 percent of the pie.
Other products commonly purchased through computer browsers also getting picked up on mobile devices included clothing (37 percent), event tickets (35 percent), and daily deals (34 percent).
It might be more surprising that food delivery (31 percent) wasn’t higher on the list considering the amount of apps and just the sheer ease of doing so from a smartphone, but that could also depend on the area where one lives as well.
Funny enough, most smartphone owners (56 percent) also said that they made mobile purchases while at home — where one is more than likely to also have access to a computer.
Related:
- E-commerce spending rolls on; Free shipping critical
- Samsung, Android retain U.S. lead; iPhone 4S launch barely dented market
- Black Friday, Cyber Monday euphoria: Clicks cannibalize bricks
- More Americans warming up to mobile banking (survey)
- Android grows in U.S. smartphone market; Samsung holds steady
