Tablet / smartphone owners do more mobile shopping and spend more.
A new study out from Ipsos indicates that people who own tablets do more mobile shopping than those who own just a smartphone. The research, sponsored by PayPal, was conducted in August and released in October, 2011. While tablet ownership is still relatively new, and behavior somewhat fluid, the results indicate that tablet ownership increases the frequency of mobile shopping. Further, consumers who own both a smartphone spend more overall.
Tablet owners reported that the device's larger screen, larger keyboard, and touchscreen capability improved the shopping experience. Nevertheless, they did more purchasing on their smartphones. Why? It appears that they simply have their smartphones with them more often. Phones outperformed tablets in categories like these:
| M-Commerce Activities By Device (% of Respondents) |
| Own smartphone and tablet | Mobile Shopping/Buying on Smartphone(B= And Not Tablet) | Mobile Shopping/Buying on Tablet (A= And Not Smartphone) |
| Scan coupons with camera | 29% B | 11% |
| Purchase in store | 25 B | 13 |
| Listen to audio info/ad with music | 23 B | 14 |
| Purchase in public setting | 23 B | 12 |
| Make a final purchase | 21 B | 12 |
| Shop or buy sensitive category | 20 | 15 |
| Purchase using an app | 20 B | 12 |
| Purchase using Web | 18 | 25 A |
| Buy where visual info key | 18 | 22 |
| Buy where much typing required | 18 | 21 |
| Don’t know, not applicable | 30 | 29 |
| Source: Ipsos/PayPal, October 2011
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Laura Chambers, the Senior Director of Mobile for PayPal, predicts that "the first big spike in mobile shopping will be right after Thanksgiving dinner, where consumers will be shopping from their tablets and smartphones right from their couch."
For more information from the study, visit Ipsos.com.