Analysis: Mobile customers affect retail across channels

Consumers are using their mobile devices to shop in ways that have an impact both in-store and online.

Analysis of daily surveys of recent online buyers by Hayley Silver, VP of Bizrate Insights, a division of Connexity, shows that online purchases on a mobile device as a percent of online orders have been growing and maintaining market share since late 2014. However, nearly 12% of all online shoppers still don’t use their mobile device to shop at all.

And among online shoppers who do use mobile devices, tablets have lost their standing as the dominant means of conducting mobile transactions and are still declining as a percentage of online sales. Meanwhile, smartphones continue capturing a larger piece of the pie.

When comparing smartphone and tablet purchases by device type, Bizrate Insights found that as of the first quarter of 2016, online sales on iPhones are now equal to online sales on iPads. Android purchases have also been rising.

Also, mobile devices continue to affect the in-store experience before and during in-store purchase. One in five (21%) of shoppers use their mobile devices to assist their in-store shopping experience. More than six in 10 (63%) check whether an item is in stock via their mobile device before visiting a store, or think that’s a good idea).

However, almost two-thirds of mobile shoppers use their devices while in a retailer’s store to look for discounts and better prices at competitors. And 58% compare a retailer’s in-store prices and coupons with their online prices and coupons, meaning omnichannel price consistency is important.