The majority of cell phone owners age 18 and older (52%) used their phones to help them make purchase decisions while shopping in retail stores during the 2011 holiday season, according to the Pew Research Center. Specifically, 38% called friends to ask for advice regarding purchases, 25% did online price comparisons for products they were considering buying in-store, and 24% read online product reviews.
Cell phone owners under age 50 are more likely than those 50 and older to read online reviews on their phones while in-store and/or to call friends for advice. Shoppers who live in urban or suburban areas are twice as likely as rural-dwellers to look up product reviews on their phones while shopping in stores.
Men are more likely than women to use their phones for price comparison while they’re shopping in stores (31% vs. 20%). Price-checking doesn’t necessarily drive mobile shoppers away from the retail store, however. Shoppers who use their phones for in-store price comparisons are more likely to buy the product in the store they’re currently shopping than online or at another store.
Source: “The Rise of In-Store Mobile Commerce,” January 30, 2012, Pew Research Center, Aaron Smith, Senior Research Specialist, Pew Internet & American Life Project, 1615 L St., NW, #700, Washington, DC 20036; 202-419-4500; info@pewinternet.org; www.pewinternet.org
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