Study: Mobile Shoppers Likely to Shop From Home

Mobile shopping has come to be understood as a way for brick-and-mortar stores to increase traffic and sales inside the four walls of their establishment, but a survey from November 2014 released by Contact Solutions shows that the idea of the “showrooming” customer is superseded by the customer who sits and home and mobile shops from the comfort of their own couch. Also, while many customers like to mobile shop, and want companies to advertise to them through their phones, lingering usage problems and help fixing them turn a significant percentage of shoppers off.

In the survey, 85 percent of participants admit to actively shopping from home on their mobile phones, even when there are other devices available for online shopping within reach, like a computer. By comparison, only 26 percent of customers admit to “showrooming,” the practice of using their mobile devices for in-store purchases or to find deals.

The survey also found that mobile shoppers are increasingly making purchases in-store with their phones, with 27 percent of respondents agreeing. Another 23 percent say that in-app recommendations, like those that MasterPass will be introducing for certain online stores this year, will make them add more items to their shopping carts; and 33 percent say it will keep them using the app. To further entice mobile shoppers, 54 percent said that mobile-specific coupons and discounts would increase their desire to be repeat customers, backing up another retail study showing some businesses wanting to personalize their discounts and advertising to specific customer demographics.

However, there is a snag with the increased enthusiasm with mobile shopping: it’s easy to be turned off by it if the app encounters problems. According to the survey, 25 percent of customers say that they will not go back to the app if they must leave it to get help with how to work it, a problem that 81 percent of survey respondents say they have encountered. This may provide an incentive for companies to develop in-app help, which only 12 percent of respondents use. American Eagle has rolled out a chat feature on their mobile app that aims to solve this problem, which allows customers to access deals while they are near AE outlets thanks to NFC geo-targeting.

The survey was released Feb. 3 and sampled 1,800 adults.