Report Says Shoppers Prefer Purchasing on Smartphones Over Tablets

Content Manager

As mobile devices continue to empower shoppers to buy when and where they choose, retailers work to create seamless shopping experiences across physical and digital channels in order to meet rising expectations.

A new “Consumers Tell All” report from Bronto Software, focused on online shopping habits and mobile device preferences, provides insights into consumer buying behaviors, according to a release.

“According to the data, consumers are not spontaneously window shopping online stores or casually browsing product pages,” said Jim Davidson, head of research for Bronto Software. “They are utilizing multiple devices to extend their shopping experience and influence purchase decisions, creating a nonlinear path to purchase that today’s marketers need to understand and embrace.”

The report found that the majority of smartphone shoppers prefer mobile device browsers (61% of respondents) over apps (39% of respondents), which was also the preference of tablet shoppers by more than two to one (69% vs. 31%).

Despite the deep penetration of smartphones (63% of respondents own one), just 10% said they using them for online purchases; for tablet owners the figure was 7%. Twenty-four percent of online shoppers said they preferred buying online at least once a week, and consumers aged 30-39 were the most active, with 37% of the group saying they were weekly shoppers.

The report stated that the number of seniors who owned tablets jumped from 35% to 41%, while seniors owning smartphones dipped from 26% to 43%.