Page 8 - index

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

DigitasLBi:

M-commerce, Social Media &

ROPO lead retail trends

According to a consumer study by global digital and The practice of 'showrooming' (consumers first visit a
technology agency DigitasLBi, consumers worldwide store to examine and test a product in person, and then
are increasingly using multi-platform devices, especially purchase it elsewhere, often at a cheaper price) is also
mobile, to enhance their in-store shopping experience. a prevalent global trend. It is most common in Sweden,
where 88% of consumers research a product in-store
DigitasLBi’s first-of-its-kind, proprietary research, enti- before buying online, followed by 84% in China, 66% in
tled Connected Commerce - A Snapshot of the Modern the U.S., and 48% in Belgium. 19% of global consum-
Shopper, looks at the multiple screens and data ers claim that they would leave a store if, after consult-
streams that affect the purchase behavior of consumers ing their smartphone, they found a product for less
across 12 countries - Belgium, China, Denmark, France, somewhere else; a further 29% say they would consid-
Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, er doing so. The price component is essential: nearly
Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. two in three people surveyed report that a price differ-
ence of at least 5% would make them leave the store; if
the price difference increased to 10%, 88% of consum-
The study reveals surprising new shopping habits and ers would leave.
influences that transformed how, where, and why con-
sumers buy, besides providing key findings across three
categories: 3. Social media's influence and social sharing
varies widely; China leads
1. Smartphones and m-Commerce take center stage
82% of Chinese social network users say that social
media has influenced their purchase decision; in Singa-
Half of survey respondents worldwide agree that the
use of smartphones has changed the way they shop; in pore the figure is 74%; in Spain, Italy, and the U.S. the
average is 55%; the average for the seven remaining
the U.S. 71% of Americans say that using a mobile
phone while shopping inside a store could affect their countries surveyed is 42%. Four in five Chinese social
network users also say they buy more products of
buying decisions.
brands they follow on social media.
"In a few seconds on a smartphone, consumers have Sharing news of purchased items through social chan-
access to perfect information about a product and the
ability to buy it," says Chia Chen, SVP, Mobile, Digi- nels is also most common in China, where 78% of so-
cial media users have shared a purchase via a social
tasLBi, North America.” Indeed, mobile devices can digi-
tally take part in all shopping experiences, thus, brands network. In contrast, in the U.K. and Germany, only
around 35% have done so. In Singapore, Italy, Spain,
and retailers that want to influence shopping decisions
need to adopt a mobile-centric approach. and the U.S., between 40% and 50% have shared a
purchase via a social network. 49% of global social net-
work users who have ever shared a purchase on social
The percentage of consumers who have purchased an networks did it "just to let their friends know." ◊
item online via smartphone in the last three months var-
ies by country: 70% so in China, 22% in the U.S., 13%
in France, and 6% in Belgium. Additionally, 79% of peo- By MediaBUZZ
ple in China go online on their phone while shopping in-
store, compared to 37% in the U.S., 27% in France, and
16% in Belgium.

2. New opportunities for Point of Sale (POS):ROPO
and Showrooming

People are now using the Internet more and more to
enhance their shopping experience: 88% of global con-
sumers “research online, purchase offline” (ROPO).
This behavior is seen in 9 out of 10 people in 11 of 12
countries. In the U.S., 89% of people say they research

a product online before buying in-store.
8 Asian eMarketing April 2014 - Mobile Marketing