It’s 2016, and the mobile shopping shows no signs of slowing down.
Digital marketing firms have known for a while that the mobile revolution was coming, and now it’s finally here—a large quantity of shoppers are already using mobile to make purchases, and they’d like to see more of it.
According to a new Facebook study of 2,400 adults, more than 60 percent of multichannel shoppers plan to increase their mobile purchasing habits in 2016. Currently, shoppers say mobile plays a part in 45 percent of all purchases, whether it’s research, price matching or actually making a purchase. 57 percent of millennials report using their phones at some point during the shopping process.
The fact that consumers are using their phones at some point during the shopping process is not new. However, the Facebook study also polled respondents on their reasons for using mobile over desktop. Fifty-five percent of respondents pointed to the convenience of using their phones, while 56 percent said they chose mobile because they were on their device already.
While mobile shopping is becoming more prevalent every year, it’s not king of online shopping just yet. The study pointed out a few notable shortcomings of mobile shopping: 70 percent of mobile shoppers found app and website experiences had room for improvement, 71 percent found the transaction experience itself needed some work and 54 percent responded they’d be more willing to shop on a device if they could do so across multiple devices.
Digital marketing firms are well aware of mobile’s current shortcomings—in 2016, 59 percent of marketers have deemed capitalizing on mobile their top priority.
Mobile shopping is steadily becoming more popular among consumers of all age groups; however, if digital marketing firms and brands want to take full advantage of the mobile revolution, they will need to focus on improving the user experience first.
