The mobile hype is real. That’s the message Delvinia president Steve Mast delivered to the crowd Monday at the 2014 Mobile Day event in Toronto.
Steve Mast
Two out of three Canadians now own a smartphone, according to Delvinia’s latest report on the Canadian mobile market, which Mast shared at the conference. The study shows that mobile penetration has grown greatly since 2011, when the firm last ran the study. For example, the number of Canadians who own a smartphone has increased 32% in the past three years.
In other areas of mobile, the report showed that two in five Canadians own a tablet, up 19% from 2011, and one in four own an e-reader, a 19% growth since 2011.
Mast said the relatively new mobile category of wearables, which includes fitness trackers like Nike FuelBand, smart watches and Google Glass, is also an area to watch, with 13% of Canadians currently owning some type of wearable device.
Mast also shared stats on how consumers use mobile at all points of the purchase cycle, showing that the ROI on mobile isn’t simply about mobile commerce. He said the smartphone is quickly becoming the key aid consumers use throughout the shopping journey, whether they are using it to find a store, research an item or make a purchase.
Four out of 10 Canadians (40%) use smartphones to look up store locations, up 14% from 2011, while 47% use search engines via their smartphones to do research before making a purchase, up 30% from 2011, and 20% use smartphones to download mobile coupons, up 9% from 2011.
While many retailers fear they are losing sales from an increase in showrooming (i.e. shoppers checking a product in store, but buying it online from another retailer), Mast said there isn’t evidence in the study to support that narrative. While 25% of Canadians do use their smartphones to compare prices, that behaviour has grown a marginal 2% since 2011.
In the area of consumer research, Mast said many consumers are using retailer sites or apps to look up products, including when they are physically in a store. In fact, while just 22% of consumers reported that they look up products to see if they are in stock, Mast said that functionality is the number one thing consumers said they want that is not currently provided by retailers.
