Published
Nov 3, 2016
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Millennial Britons ready to shop using wearable tech, says survey

Published
Nov 3, 2016

Britons are switching to mobile payments with most Millennials keen to spend more money in-store using mobile tools and many want to try on clothes ‘virtually’ too, a new report from VoucherCodes.co.uk shows. And the trend should boost wearable technology as ‘wearable shopping’ grows fast in the next 10 years.

Wearables like the Apple Watch will become more important for UK payments


UK shoppers currently spend around 9% of their disposable income via mobile payment devices and it all adds up to £1.46bn spend using smartphones, tablets and mobile apps like ApplePay every month.

Digitally savvy younger generations are leading the charge in mobile payment adoption, with those aged 18 to 24 already spending £67.59 of their monthly disposable income via their mobile devices, compared to just £16.89 of those aged 55 and over. Men are over twice as likely as women to shop using mobile payments in-store for now (12% vs 5%).

Although a modest number of Britons (8%) are currently using mobile payments in store, this number is set to rise to over one in four (27%) in the next five years. Millennials, as ever, are the most willing to embrace payment innovations with only one in five (21%) of 18-to-34 year olds reporting that they will never use mobile payments.

This is in stark contrast to their parents’ generation, the 55 and overs, of whom more than half (56%) said that they will never adopt this technology.

The future for wearable tech such as smart watches in the retail sector also looks bright, with the research revealing that 24% of Britons are set to embrace wearable shopping by 2026, up from a mere 4% adoption rate now.

The research also found that nearly half (45%) of consumers would use fingerprint payments in store and 27% would take drone deliveries while 29% would use augmented reality – such as VR headsets - to try on clothes while shopping.
By far the most popular development on the tech high street has been retailers offering in store wifi, with 35% of UK shoppers currently making use of this service. Other high street technologies on course for a boost in popularity include Click & Collect delivery, as 49% claim they currently use the technology, with another 18% set to use the service within the next decade.  

Claire Davenport, managing director at VoucherCodes said it is important for retailers to adopt new technology with recent research finding only 29% of the UK’s top 50 retailers offer in store wifi to their customers at present.

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