Nielsen: Mobile terminals make consumers more powerful both offline and online

When the first holiday shopping season of 2012 arrived, most mobile communication users already had smartphones. Consumers already had a more powerful shopping support than ever before - mobile Internet. It can help consumers search for the most favorable stores at any time and any place, and check user reviews of every item on the shopping list. The latest data from Nielsen shows that: from searching before purchase to sharing the joy of shopping with friends after purchase, mobile Internet consumers (consumers with smartphones and tablets) are keen to use their mobile terminals to fully enjoy every shopping.

It’s no surprise that consumers who own smartphones carry them with them everywhere. Nielsen found that consumers use mobile internet to assist with their shopping while in-store. In fact, 78% of consumers who use mobile internet say they use their smartphone to locate a store, while 63% check prices online while shopping. Overall, smartphone users are three times more likely than tablet users to use mobile internet for certain in-store behaviors, such as getting mobile coupons (39%) and using shopping lists (40%).

On the other hand, tablet users are more willing to shop online at home. Nearly half of tablet users have used tablets to shop, and 9/10 of them said that their shopping behavior took place at home. Consumers who use tablets are more likely to research products repeatedly before purchasing (68%) and read other consumers' reviews (53%).

When paying, more than a quarter of mobile Internet shoppers complete payment through mobile terminals. In general, mobile Internet shoppers are more willing to keep in touch after shopping, with 18% of tablet users writing reviews for products and 22% of smartphone users commenting on shopping on social media.

199it Analysis and Compilation