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I\u2019ll be the first to admit that I\u2019m not a very big tech geek. While I spend most of my workday immersed in fancy Excel formulas and spend a good chunk of my evenings cuddled up with my laptop, that\u2019s about where it ends. My cell phone is not-so-smart and I don\u2019t even own an HDTV (but I\u2019m sort of rooting for my giant tube TV to die one of these days). I did, however,\u00a0buy an iPod Touch to play music while I worked out and as a distraction tool for my four-year-old son when needed. While the WiFi capabilities are nice, I don\u2019t think I fully appreciated their usefulness until this winter. While I was home on maternity leave, my iPod Touch became my constant companion. While I was trapped on the couch with eating or sleeping baby, I gained a whole new appreciation for mobile\u2019s role in the online world. I could do a search the moment it popped into my head, rather than having to wait until I could access my laptop\u2014because let\u2019s face it, by that point I\u2019d probably have forgotten what I even wanted to search for. Be it a purchase I wanted to research or a random baby-related question, my internet access pretty much revolved around my mobile device\u2014and has ever since.<\/p>\n
When I saw the results of the 2013 Mobile Path-to-Purchase<\/a> study conducted by xAd<\/a> and Telmetrics<\/a>, I realized that I fit right in with current trends. The study looked at 2,000 U.S. smartphone and tablet users and actual observed consumer behaviours from Nielsen\u2019s Smartphone Analytics Panel of 6,000 Apple and Android users. It found that users are increasingly relying on mobile as the starting point of their purchase process, but how a sale was completed differed by device.<\/p>\n Half of those studied said that their initial research into a purchase starts on their mobile device. 31% continue to use the device throughout the purchase process, and 22% of searchers actually complete the purchase on their mobile device. However, 54% of those studied indicate that they also use additional devices for further research. I certainly fell into that category, because as much as I used my iPod, eventually I\u2019d run into a site that wasn\u2019t mobile-friendly or where the ease of a full browser of tabs made comparison shopping easier. The second I could get to my laptop, I\u2019d move the search there.<\/p>\n Interestingly, when it came time to close the sale, behaviours differed between tablet and smartphone users. Sixty percent of smartphone users and 53% of tablet users completed purchases after they researched them on their mobile device. However, while 54% of tablet users completed their purchase online via their mobile device or a PC, the behaviour of smartphone users was quite different\u201474% made their purchase offline.<\/p>\n \n Get exclusive insights into digital \n \n \n Stay Forward <\/h2>\n
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