Sterling Commerce Survey Studies the Emergence of Mobile Technologies in E-Commerce Applications

A recent study sponsored by Dublin’s Sterling Commerce and Demandware, Inc., indicates that consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices for shopping.  Of the 3600 participants in the study, 15 percent of them have used their mobile devices to make purchases.  And although respondents indicated that they have concerns around security and ease of use, they are using their mobile phones more and more to add depth and convenience to their shopping experience.  

The study revealed some interesting trends surrounding how consumers are looking to their mobile devices to support their in-store shopping experiences. For example:

• More than 60 percent believe that being able to use their mobile phone while shopping to verify product availability at a particular store location is important to very important. 
• Nearly a quarter of shoppers use their phone while in a store to competitively price shop an item.
• Approximately 20 percent of consumers currently use their phones to create shopping lists or baskets, and slightly more than that number would be interested in a mobile app to help with shopping list or basket management for their favorite retailers.
• Two thirds are interested in the possibility of using their mobile phone to scan and purchase items, thus enabling them to bypass checkout lines.
• A quarter of shoppers believe that receiving specials/promotions (such as coupons) would be an important use for their mobile phone when shopping, although they were less enthusiastic about receiving advertising via their phones.

For more on this study, see the story from Sterling Commerce