Google may believe it’s making money hand over fist from mobile advertising, but numbers from market research outfit and e-commerce specialist, ATG, beg to differ, saying people aren’t yet using mobile phones for either researching or buying products.
Polling 1,054 people, ATG asked whether mobile users used their devices to do a spot of online shopping, or even just to browse and research products they wanted to buy at a later date. The answer? A rather resounding ‘no’.
87% of respondents said they never bought products using their mobile, while 73% never even bothered browsing for products on their handheld. Meanwhile, only a paltry 7% admitted they had bought products “4-6 times per year” on their mobile, with the same number browsing that number of times.
3% of those polled said they bought something “monthy” using their mobile, while only 1% bought something weekly or daily.
Of course, this could have to do with the still relatively low penetration of smartphones, which currently stands at around 21% of the overall market, but it’s still an interesting statistic for companies thinking of pursuing the mobile marketing path to bear in mind.
