Survey: Price Comparisons, Coupon Searching Top Mobile Shopping Activities

Fri, 10/29/2010 - 12:42 by Greg Sterling

Online commerce vendor ATG sponsored a survey (n=1,002) about consumer shopping behaviors online and on mobile devices. The top-level findings are written up here. Basically search engines are most widely used resource, followed by email and then "word of mouth." In this post, however, I'll focus on the survey's mobile data.

There are no startling findings or revelations. The data do show how consumers are increasingly using their handsets to get product information in stores and on the go and how they're becoming more comfortable making purchases through their phones. 

Previously InsightExpress reported that 82% of mobile phone owners in the US used mobile phones (in one way or another) in stores, which includes voice calls to friends and family. In the ATG data the numbers aren't quite as impressive though "about 41% of consumers aged 18-34 are using their mobile device to complete purchases of products and services with varying frequencies."

Unfortunately there's no handset segmentation in the report but we can assume that most of the action is happening on smartphones. According to the survey:

  • 37% of survey respondents (across alll age categories) "said they are using their mobile devices to browse or research products and services." This is reportedly 10 points greater than the previous survey, which was only four months before -- a significant gain. 
  • 27% of "shoppers surveyed had used their mobile device for broader shopping-related activities  . . . such as searching for coupons, comparing prices between stores, receiving text message notifications of sales, and getting ratings and reviews." This number jumped to 46% among 18-34 olds.

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For which of the following activities do you use your mobile device? (Select all that apply)
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How often do you complete a purchase transaction directly on your mobile device?

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Tablets: 

  • 27% in the 18-34 age group say they are using a tablet device
  • 13% are using it on the go in place of a laptop computer.
  • 5% of those over age 45 are using a tablet.
  • 25% in the 18-34 segment said they use a tablet device for shopping-related activities. 

As I said no great or startling revelations but solid evidence of how mobile devices are gaining as shopping tools.