Just as in Australia, smartphones are revolutionising the way people shop in the UK according to a new survey.
Research house Intersperience found a stunning one in three Britons used mobile phones to help them buy presents in the Christmas lead-up. In other Christmas trends, 38 per cent used discount coupons or sought early bargains and online spending grew at the expense of high street.
“The way UK consumers shopped for presents this Christmas was completely different to any previous year,” said Intersperience CEO Paul Hudson.
“This is the year that the mobile phone changed the way we shop. With people very conscious of their reduced spending power this year, they have chosen the latest technology to help them find the best deals,” said Hudson.
Increased bargain hunting was driven by continuing worries about the economic situation, making more use of discount coupons and smartphones to compare prices in order to get the cheapest deal, according to the results of the research which was based on a sampling of 1000 consumers polled before Christmas and again a week after.
“One in three used their phones to check competitor prices, look for reviews of products, search ratings and check specifications. Almost 20 per cent of people called up rivals’ websites while standing in a high street store looking at the item they wanted to buy. And 30 per cent of them went on to purchase those gifts online from somebody else’s website while standing in the shop,” said Hudson.
Meanwhile, discount coupons were much in evidence and Intersperience found consumers are increasingly taking to seeking out bargains at all times of the year, buying presents cheaply off-season and keeping them
hidden until December.
“We are as a nation, in effect, Christmas shopping all-year round now,” said Hudson.
Mobile phones were also a major factor in a general pattern of increased online sales. The average amount spent by each internet shopper was up GBP25 to GBP188, while the average spent in stores dropped GBP13 to GBP166 per customer.
While the amount spent was up, the proportion of the population buying online actually fell from 81 per cent in 2010 to 72 per cent. More than half of internet shoppers, 51 per cent, said they experienced problems with stock shortages or delays in delivery – and almost one in 10 said their gifts did not arrive by Christmas Day.
Observed Hudson: “Although the proportion of people buying online has fallen, the number of transactions per shopper has increased and the value of goods bought online has also risen. That means there has been overall headline growth in online sales.”
“It tends to be the over-25s who prefer to purchase presents online. Younger consumers use the internet and their smart phones for research but more of them buy in stores. When we asked them why, 41 per cent said they worried about order delivery, a far higher figure than among older consumers.”
The trend towards a Mobile Christmas came against a backdrop of continued uncertainty about the economic outlook. Some 65 per cent of consumers said the economic situation affected their Christmas spending, compared to 48 per cent in 2010.
