UK retailers are missing out on potential revenues of around £6.6bn due to lack of investment in their mobile offering, a new report has suggested, with 17 per cent of retailers delivering no mobile offering for customers whatsoever.

Consumers in the UK are prolific mobile shoppers, with 15 per cent now using their mobile as a primary shopping device, and mobile shoppers also spending more online overall, with 47 per cent more transactions and 55 per cent higher spending compared to desktop only shoppers.

According to the report by the Centre for Retailer Research and VoucherCodes.co.uk, mobile is also driving people back onto the high street, with 44 per cent of shoppers more likely to visit a mobile-orientated store, and 36 per cent saying they were likely to spend more in such a shop.

“The growth of online and mobile spending has already had a hugely positive impact on the retail sector,” said Claire Davenport, managing director of VoucherCodes.co.uk. “However, there is still a great opportunity being missed – and it is worth billions for retailers. Customers have expressed their intention to spend more on mobile devices, so now is the time to revisit mobile strategy to capitalise on this.”

Consumers are becoming more accustomed to mobile shopping, with initial concerns like security decreasing, and slow loading pages, freezing websites and too many products to easily sort through now the primary barriers to shoppers using mobile.

Retailers are recognising the importance of mobile, with 66 per cent saying that investment would help drive sales growth and 88 per cent believing it would also increase in-store visits. Despite this, almost a fifth still have no mobile offering.

“Its promising to see that retailers are recognising the importance of enhancing their mobile strategies whether online or in-store,” said Davenport. “However, there is a still a disconnect between what consumers are experiencing and what retailers believe they are providing.”