Partner Article

Smartphone essential for North East shoppers

Shoppers are becoming increasingly reliant on smartphones to chose their purchases, according to a new survey.

Deloitte’s sixth annual State of the Media Democracy survey found that 17% of respondents compare products using mobile technology and 18% use their phone to read product reviews.

Rob Seldon, Technology partner for Deloitte in the North East: “More than 50% of UK consumers now own smartphones and they are being used to discover new products, research them, obtain discounts, and finally pay for them*.

“We found a third of consumers (32%) would like to access product information in store by scanning a bar code with their mobile phone. Some retailers have introduced this functionality but it may soon be a must-have for all, due to customer demand for this facility.”

Online reviews are also important to consumers, with one in six finding out about new products on the recommendation of other online users. Almost 70% of users had been put off a product based on negative online reviews, and three quarters of those surveyed said that these recommendations were more influential in their buying decisions than any other Internet content.

Rob adds: “The popularity of online reviews may be causing a change in UK consumers’ willingness to give advice online.

“We found that 31% of consumers had recommended a product through a blog entry or social networking site.

’This represents a 30% increase since 2010, a significant shift in behaviour that is particularly marked in those aged over 55 years old, where 70% more respondents told us that they had reviewed a product online in 2011 than in 2010.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .