46 per cent of smartphone owners have used their phone to research products while on a shopping trip, with a 74 per cent conversion rate after visiting a retailers mobile site or app. The research, from Deloitte Digital, notes that, as a result, around 6 per cent of in-store retail sales are being influenced by smartphone use, equivalent to £15.2bn of sales this year.

Electronics purchases are particularly influenced by mobile, at 10 per cent, with just 2.9 per cent and 3.8 per cent of supermarket sales affected in the same way. While 64 per cent of smartphone owners have made a bank payment or paid a bill on their phone, just 1 per cent have been able to make a payment in store.

By 2016, the research predicts that more than 80 per cent of consumers will own a smartphone and this will see between 15 and 18 per cent of in store sales influenced by smartphone research, equivalent to £35 – 43bn.
Ian Geddes, UK head of retail at Deloitte, said: “Mobile must be considered in conjunction with other shopping channels. Consumers are researching products using the smartphone, browsing items in store and then often completing the transaction at home on a laptop or tablet. Shoppers expect to be able to interact seamlessly with a retailer across all of these channels. Investment and related targets are required to ensure each channel supports each other and delivers a strong omni-channel experience.”
Mark Haviland, MD, Rakuten LinkShare UK, an affiliate network that works with retailers, said: “News that such a large amount of sales are being made in store as a result of the mobile channel is proof that smartphones should be central to every retailer’s marketing strategy. The fact that nearly half of all smartphone users use their device to research products when shopping shows that today’s shopper is hungry for information; consumers are using 3G and in-store wi-fi and are habitually comparing prices and products using their smartphones. Shoppers are taking time to mull over purchases, so a mobile presence is vital for retailers to be considered at this ‘research’ stage of the purchasing journey.
Colin Jeffrey, head of multichannel retail at Deloitte Digital, added: “We would expect smartphones to increasingly be used as a transactional device in the future. The increased adoption of contactless payment technology will act to accelerate the influence of mobile. Retailers need to plan for a world where banks of till points are no longer required and prepare to fully exploit the opportunities that mobile presents.”
A similar study conducted by Deloitte in the US found that a smaller proportion of retail sales are influenced by mobile, around 5 per cent, the larger market means that mobile is already estimated to influence a staggering $159bn of in store sales.

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