Smart phones are increasingly used for online purchases: 44% of USA users employ them for this purpose, and their widespread use is inexorable also in Italy
In the USA, six out of ten mobile device owners use them to make online studies on various types of products, while 44% use them to buy products and services. Moreover, if only users aged 18 to 24 are considered, this percentage rises to 64 and 58 percent, respectively.
The latter was found by a study recently published by the digital publisher SAY Media.
The report stated that “mobile devices are changing the way in which users interact with products and brands in the whole purchase process”.
Indeed, in this new context, “it’s essential for the website of companies to have a version for mobile devices that helps users during all the purchase phases and, at the same time, offers geo-localised campaigns that can raise brand awareness”.
Furthermore, according to other studies, smart phones and tablets can be used to launch the collection of information on products that will be subsequently purchased online by means of a PC or in actual stores. Specifically, a study by Tradedoubler called “Mobile consumers & you” found that 38% of the users who have employed a mobile device to search for information on a product then bought the product in a store, 25% by using a smart phone, 47% a PC and 7% a tablet.
Mobile commerce also offers broad possibilities in the advertising field. in Italy “in 2012, 10% of traffic comes from mobile, up from 5% in 2011. This percentage will likely double, and so will advertising investments”, said Vittorio Lorenzoni, market unit executive with Tradedoubler.
