How Consumers Use Mobile While Shopping​

Real-time price comparison has always been a common feature of online shopping, but more and more shoppers are using mobile phones for that same purpose in-store.

According to a GfK survey of mobile phone users in 23 countries, 40 percent of respondents reported that they go online with their devices to compare prices while shopping in a store. Other common behaviors include contacting a friend or family member for advice (40 percent), and taking pictures of products (36 percent).

Among mobile phone users in the United States, comparing prices (37 percent) is slightly less common than getting in touch with a trusted person (39 percent). The GfK study bears out that the U.S. is among the Top 10 countries for incidences of both of these behaviors: No. 9 for contacting friends and family and No. 8 for checking prices.

Globally, the GfK study shows that men are more likely than women (42 percent to 37 percent) to use their mobile phones in-store to compare prices. In the U.S., however, the split is more even between the genders (37 percent of men and 36 percent of women) with regards to that behavior.

Among U.S. mobile phone users surveyed, other common in-store activities include taking pictures of advertisements, descriptions and other information about products (26 percent), scanning bar codes or QR codes (24 percent), buying products through an app on their mobile devices (19 percent), and buying products through the store’s or another website (17 percent).

The survey was compiled by GfK from interviews of over 25,000 mobile phone users 15 years old and up in the summer of 2014 in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, U.K., Ukraine and USA.