Fifty per cent of smartphone owners indulge in m-commerce

Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - 09:40 by Graham Miller

Figures suggest that around half of all people who have bought a smartphone use it to carry out safe shopping online, indicating that the m-commerce market is growing as uptake of high end mobiles increases.

A survey conducted by eDigitalResearch has found that around a year ago only 20 per cent of smartphone owning consumers were harnessing m-commerce apps and services to buy products. This has leapt to 50 per cent because the firm believes that connected mobiles are being seen as a must-have accessory for modern life.

While 50 per cent of consumers have harnessed mobiles for safe shopping online, around 11 per cent actually make a purchase each week. This may seem small, but it is anticipated that the proportion of regular buyers will increase significantly over the coming years.

Consumer expectations have changed as a result of the surge in smartphone sales and the wide availability of m-commerce. For example, many people now presume that they will be able to access a mobile version of a retailer's site and can become disappointed if there is not such a specially adapted space available to them.

Analyst Chris Russell said that the alteration of consumers' habits as a result of m-commerce usage and smartphone prevalence was clearly documented by the latest study.

Mr Russell believes that the consumers is really in the driving seat, dictating the manner in which retailers provide platforms for purchasing and breaking the restrictive bonds of things like opening times and limited stock that have defined the high street for decades.

Most large retailers are cottoning on to the fact that the number of customers shopping via smartphones is on an inevitable upward curve and, as such, a bevy of new apps and mobile sites are popping up to service their needs.