By Chuck Martin
In online commerce, there’s browsing and then there’s buying.
We’ve seen from numerous studies that consumers use multiple devices to research what to purchase as well as to actually make the purchase.
While in-store purchasing still rules, sellers of various products and services may want to take a hard look at the direction the market is moving.
Almost half of online consumers intend to purchase clothing or make airline or hotel reservations using an online device in the next six months, according to a new study.
But that’s just the buying part.
In certain categories, those who browse online also buy there.
When shopping for clothes, event tickets, books and personal care products, there’s almost a one-to-one correlation between online searching and shopping, according to a new ecommerce study by Nielsen. Those who browse online also buy online.
Categories with a high browse-to-buy intention rates are:
Alcoholic drinks
Baby supplies
Books
Clothes
Cosmetics
Event tickets
Flowers
Groceries
Personal care products
Pet products
Reservations for tours and hotels
Toys
There also are categories where there is more browsing than online buying. They are:
Car, motorcycle, accessories
Computer hardware
Computer software
Electronic equipment
Mobile phone
Music (not downloaded)
Sporting goods
Videos, DVDs, games
The Nielsen ecommerce study is based on a survey of 30,000 online consumers in 60 countries to determine the online shopping and purchasing intentions of consumers worldwide.
Of the 22 categories in the study, the only category with a higher global buy-to-browse ratio is airline tickets.
By device, the large majority (80%) of consumers globally who shop or make an online purchase will do so from a computer.
Fewer than half (44%) globally use their mobile device most frequently for online shopping, with the most in the Middle East/Africa and the fewest in North America.
Here’s the breakdown of where mobile is a most frequent device of choice of those who will shop or make a purchase online within the next six months:
55% — Middle East, Africa
52% — Asia-Pacific
48% — Latin America
33% — Europe
27% — North America
Tablet shopping globally lags behind smartphones. By region, here’s the breakdown of where tablets will be a most frequently used device for online shopping in the next six months:
38% — Middle East, Africa
35% — Asia-Pacific
29% — Latin America
26% — North America
24% — Europe
The reason the device choice matters is that many categories are growing in prominence for online shopping.
The obvious challenge for anyone selling anything is to be in a position to influence the purchase decision during the researching, browsing and buying phases.
Mobile commerce is now happening in all places and all the time.
Chuck Martin is Editor of the mCommerce Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily MobileShopTalk column. He is the author of “Mobile Influence,” “The Third Screen,” and “The Smartphone Handbook.” He is CEO of Mobile Future Institute. Chuck Martin is a frequent Mobile Keynote Speaker and Mobile Marketing Speaker internationally. He also addresses Social Media in Mobile.
