Shoppers opt for mobile browsers over dedicated apps, survey finds

Monday, October 11, 2010 - 22:26 by Simon Crisp

A new study has found that most UK consumers who use their mobiles to carry out safe shopping online prefer to harness native mobile web browsers rather than shopping via dedicated apps.

The research, conducted on behalf of Orange, concluded that although there are many thousands of apps relating to brands and retailers, 70 per cent of UK consumers would rather head online using a browser as opposed to skipping between applications, which is an entirely understandable standpoint to adopt.

Interestingly it was UK females who were most enamoured with mobile browser-based safe shopping online and over 2000 people from across Europe took part in the survey to give a representative look at current trends in the m-commerce market.

Orange's Paul Francois Fournier, said that many retailers will now be better placed to target their marketing and build their mobile sites to cater to the needs and actions of UK consumers.

Mr Fournier commented that the results would allow various firms across different retail brands to better appreciate the best way to attract business from shoppers on the mobile platform.

He pointed to integrating location-based services into mobile shopping as a good way of engaging with the customer and also said that generating buzz around a particular product or topic would be made easier if the available tools were correctly exploited.

Statistics gathered by rival UK network provider O2, have shown that consumers are becoming more accustomed to using their mobiles to sign up for ad campaigns and marketing drives, which make the most of the positive attributes of mobile phones.

There is no doubt that m-commerce is becoming a more significant market for retailers and consumers alike. Consolidating the experience into a versatile, browser-based platform, would seem to be the way forward based on these latest statistics.