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Feb 9, 2015
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Mobile shopping is becoming a reflex

By
AFP-Relaxnews
Published
Feb 9, 2015

New research finds that the majority of US consumers would be happy if shopping were a 100% mobile experience, although for many, trust is still an overriding issue.

Merkle, a US customer relationship marketing firm, surveyed over 2,000 consumers during the 2014 holiday shopping season to better understand how shoppers' habits and expectations are being shaped by digital technology and found that mobile shopping is shopping.

Over 50% of US consumers under 50 would be happy to shop entirely via mobile | Photo: Diego Cervo/shutterstock.com


Reaching for a tablet or smartphone for researching a product's benefits or for finding a device is now normal behavior. So much so that 67% of those surveyed under the age of 50 are in favor of a 100% mobile path to purchase.

Almost half of respondents under 50 (46%) are intrigued by technological innovations such as Apple's iBeacon service that enable information and offers to be pushed directly to their smartphone screens and would be happy to see personalized offers appear on their screens while shopping in-store.

However, the first results from Merkle's Shopper Expectations 2015 report, which is due to be published in full later this month, arrive at a time where many consumers are also questioning the security of their mobile devices and the apps installed on them.

MEF, a global trade association for companies that deliver products and service via mobile, has also been polling consumers -- 15,000 in 15 countries, to be exact -- and has found that over one third (34%) of mobile consumers lack the trust levels necessary for buying more goods or services via their smartphone or tablet.

The aptly named MEF Global Consumer Trust Report 2015, published on February 4, highlights that trust is still the biggest single factor influencing how consumers use their handsets. Nearly half (49%) of respondents said that trust is the reason why they don't download an app or use it once installed.

Consumers are also showing a greater concern for how personal information is accessed and shared by apps -- 72% of mobile users said that they were not happy about letting apps collect data about location, health records or their address book, and 39% claimed that they never allow an app to access such information.

Of the findings, Andrew Bud, MEF Global Chair, said: "Trust is the most important asset of any business, and consumer confidence must underpin the mobile ecosystem. The sustainability of the mobile industry depends on it. As mobile devices and services evolve, consumers will hold business ever more accountable."
 

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