35 percent of shoppers make purchases on mobile devices

DENVER, USA: An ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research shows that in just two years, shoppers using mobile devices to make purchases has increased by 10 percent (from 25 percent in 2012).

Increased mobile purchasing by Hispanics (+11 percent YOY), Asian-Americans (+10 percent YOY), and the 15–34 and 35–49 age brackets (+10 percent and +12 percent YOY, respectively) were largely responsible for this increase.

"Shoppers of all ages and demographics are using their mobile phones in stores and to make purchases. Marketers should consider not whether their target uses mobile, but how their target uses mobile," said Craig Elston, SVP of Insight and Strategy at The Integer Group.

In addition to becoming more prevalent as a purchase channel, the use of mobile is expediting the shopping process. The study shows 15 percent of shoppers said that typically only a "couple of minutes" passed between discovering a product (on their mobile device) and purchase.

Males were more likely than females (17 percent and 13 percent, respectively) to make these quick-turn purchases, and mobile-savvy Hispanics reported the shortest time mobile shopping (47 percent of purchases were made within a few hours of product discovery).

This acceleration of purchase is indicative of what shoppers look for when using their mobile devices in store or for purchase: information and convenience. In-store shoppers use their mobile devices to compare prices (39 percent) and look up product reviews (25 percent). This mirrors their priorities for shopping on their smartphones: spending as little as possible (55 percent) and finding the best-quality items (49 percent).