One in 10 Brits will do their online Christmas shopping using their mobile phone rather than a computer this year, according to new research findings from Tesco Direct. The trend of using mobile phones for online shopping emerged in a study of 4,000 consumers. The findings are released as Tesco Direct gets ready to face its busiest online shopping day of the year, dubbed ‘Cyber Monday’ or ‘Manic Monday’ by retailers.

The study was commissioned to examine the changing Christmas shopping habits of the nation following the launch of Tesco Direct’s new mobile web service, designed to facilitate easy shopping for customers directly through their phones. It reveals that nearly half will shop online using their phones while watching TV, one in six expect to buy something on their phone while sat on the bus, and a quarter will log on to shopping sites through their mobiles during their daily commute.

“Tesco Direct is expecting to ship more than 80,000 items today as we face our busiest day of the year for online orders,” says tesco.com CMO, Ian Crook. For the first time this year, we anticipate a significant amount of these orders to be placed by customers using their mobile phones, because customers like the convenience of shopping on the go.”

The nationwide poll found 78 per cent are planning to do some of their Christmas shopping online this year and seven in 10 think it’s the best way to buy presents. Simply avoiding the Christmas crowds was the biggest reason for turning to the internet, with 71 per cent saying they cant stand battling queues in the shops. Another 44 per cent like to use the web to search for the best price. 36 per cent of respondents said using their mobile would reduce stress levels as they could fit shopping in and around their busy lives.

“In October alone, we had over half a million people visit the Tesco Direct website using their mobile phones, and in the run up to Christmas we’re expecting this number to surge, as people order their gifts from Tesco Direct,” says Crook.
The Tesco Direct mobile website was launched earlier this month. It enables shoppers to browse and search the complete Tesco Direct product range; buy products; start an order to finish later on a PC; or finish an order previously started on a PC. You can access the Tesco Direct mobile website at:  www.direct.tesco.com

David Murphy writes:
They say statistics never lie, but I must admit, I was a tad wary of the ones in the release that hit my desk from Tesco.com this morning. One in 10 people doing their online shopping via their phone? I know there is an mCommerce revolution in the offing, but that figure looked a little high to me. Maybe next Christmas when everyone is shopping on the smartphones Santa has lined up for them this Christmas perhaps, but not this year.

And then I looked again at how the release was worded – “One in 10 Brits will do their online Christmas shopping using their mobile phone” – and realised it did tally. Not everyone does their Christmas shopping online (though I would be interested to know what percentage don’t), but of those that do, the idea that 10 per cent of them will do at least some of it via their phone makes perfect sense.

The reason M&S, Tesco and others have launched mobile sites is because they have seen 5 per cent and more of the traffic to their full website coming from mobile phones, and realised they needed to offer mobile browsers a better experience. And when they are presented with a well-designed site that has been created with mobile usage in mind, I think most consumers will be pleasantly surprised at how easy an intuitive the mobile shopping experience can be. One in 10? At least.