NOTTINGHAM: UK retailers could be missing out on an estimated £6.6bn per year due to underinvestment in their mobile offering, a new report into mobile spending has warned.
VoucherCodes.co.uk, the discounting portal, and the Centre for Retail Research questioned 1,000 online shoppers in the UK and found 15% now use their mobile as a primary shopping device and also that they are inclined to spend more.
Consumers with a propensity to shop on mobile generally make 47% more transactions and spend 55% more than purely online shoppers, Telemedia reported.
Yet 40% feel the mobile shopping experience could be improved with the biggest annoyances being slow loading pages (64%), websites that freeze (49%) and too many products to sift through (46%).
Concerns about security (43%) and poor payment options (35%) also put off consumers from mobile shopping, leading the report to recommend that retailers improve the mobile experience they offer potential customers.
Retailers themselves expect to lose 22% of sales due to a poor mobile website and a quarter (26%) because of a poor mobile application. Also, a full 17% of retailers have no mobile offering at all.
"A key outtake from our research is the importance of simplicity and a seamless experience," said Claire Davenport, managing director of VoucherCodes.co.uk.
"Of customers that use mobile as their primary shopping device, almost half (44%) said they did so because it was convenient. [But] problems like slow loading sites and poor payment options are preventing consumers from getting to the point of purchase.
"An astounding 40% feel mobile retail could be improved – retailers could potentially monetise this group if they improved their offering."
Fortunately, the report found that many retailers do recognise the opportunities on offer with two-thirds (66%) saying investment in mobile retail would help drive sales and another 88% believing mobile could drive more visits in-store.
This matters because £6.6bn is at stake, according to the report's calculation that 51.7m UK adults aged over 16 spend £359.51 a year extra in mobile-oriented stores.
VoucherCodes.co.uk, the discounting portal, and the Centre for Retail Research questioned 1,000 online shoppers in the UK and found 15% now use their mobile as a primary shopping device and also that they are inclined to spend more.
Consumers with a propensity to shop on mobile generally make 47% more transactions and spend 55% more than purely online shoppers, Telemedia reported.
Yet 40% feel the mobile shopping experience could be improved with the biggest annoyances being slow loading pages (64%), websites that freeze (49%) and too many products to sift through (46%).
Concerns about security (43%) and poor payment options (35%) also put off consumers from mobile shopping, leading the report to recommend that retailers improve the mobile experience they offer potential customers.
Retailers themselves expect to lose 22% of sales due to a poor mobile website and a quarter (26%) because of a poor mobile application. Also, a full 17% of retailers have no mobile offering at all.
"A key outtake from our research is the importance of simplicity and a seamless experience," said Claire Davenport, managing director of VoucherCodes.co.uk.
"Of customers that use mobile as their primary shopping device, almost half (44%) said they did so because it was convenient. [But] problems like slow loading sites and poor payment options are preventing consumers from getting to the point of purchase.
"An astounding 40% feel mobile retail could be improved – retailers could potentially monetise this group if they improved their offering."
Fortunately, the report found that many retailers do recognise the opportunities on offer with two-thirds (66%) saying investment in mobile retail would help drive sales and another 88% believing mobile could drive more visits in-store.
This matters because £6.6bn is at stake, according to the report's calculation that 51.7m UK adults aged over 16 spend £359.51 a year extra in mobile-oriented stores.
Data sourced from Telemedia, The Drum; additional content by Warc staff
