Use of mobile phones to shop on rise as security becomes less of an issue

Anne Freer | December 3, 2018

App Business

Almost half of consumers are now using their smartphones to make purchases online, according to a new infographic released by mobile ad specialist AdColony.

And it’s not just Millennials who are hitting the small screen, instead 70% of holiday shoppers were between 45 to 70 years old.

The rise in mobile shoppers comes at a time when security levels on mobile devices have improved significantly compared to desktop.

Indeed, 70% of survey respondents found that mobile shopping was no more or less secure than using desktops. However, roughly a quarter of shoppers (22%) still consider mobile devices to be less secure, whilst 8% found them to be more secure than desktop devices.

Among the items most frequently purchases on mobile devices were clothes, home items and books.

However, shoppers also use their smartphones to find better deals and offers and browse item prices whilst in store.

It doesn’t really matter whether shoppers are using apps or browsers, but 35% preferred in-app experiences. Most importantly, customers want easy-to-navigate apps and mobile websites.

When it comes to mobile ads, 66% said they would make a purchase from a mobile ad if the product was relevant to them. However, 57% have not actually done so.

A third of shoppers like to shop both online and offline, whilst 25% preferred shopping online versus 25% shopping mostly offline.