Over the past few years, the world has witnessed the unprecedented growth of smartphones, changing forever the way consumers shop and browse.
For over three years now, eDigitalResearch and IMRG have been tracking the growth of the mobile market in the UK and documenting changes and emerging trends. Both firms have an unprecedented amount of data and expertise and are now sharing the latest consumer results in the second Explosion of Mobile Infographic to help brands better understand the future of the channel.
Smartphone ownership now stands at 60% of the overall UK population, having continued to grow at a solid pace over the past 12 months. With the introduction of new, more innovative devices, as well as emerging technologies, such as 4G, ownership looks set to increase in 2013 and signals just how important a channel mobile is becoming to retailers and brands.
The infographic also clearly shows the steady growth in the number of smartphone owners who are using their devices to shop and browse. Whilst figures dropped slightly in the latter part of 2012, the latest results show shopping and browsing levels are on the rise again. In the latest results from April 2013, over half (54%) of smartphone ownerss claim to have used their device to browse for products, whilst just under 40% have gone on to make a purchase. With more retailers introducing multichannel initiatives, such as free Wi-Fi in store, it’s only likely that these figures will increase over the coming months.
Tracking across the years also demonstrates the change in popularity of handsets and operating systems amongst consumers, and particularly highlights the dramatic fall in ownership of Nokia handsets since 2010.
Source: IMRG
