US shoppers behavior changes 2014 report presents a trend that I noticed a few years ago. We are using more and more mobile phones, smart phones and tablets in our purchasing journey.

I found a great report : Mapping the US Shopper’s Mobile Path to Purchase prepared by DNC recently.

Please find below the most important findings:

• In 2014, 29% of US consumers said smartphones were the most important shopping tool up from 23% in 2013.
• 42% of consumers consider a mobile device as the most important resource for a purchase decision just behind laptops and desktops at 43%.
• 60% of US consumers claim to have used only their smartphones when deciding which restaurant to visit.
• 40% of US consumers claim to have used only smartphones when deciding on their choice of entertainment.
• 35% of US consumers say they used only smartphones when deciding on which car to buy.

• 68% of US consumers conduct pre-purchase research on their smartphones at some point in their purchase journey.
• Among US consumers who research on their smartphones, 37% make the final purchase in a store followed by 35% who make the final purchase on their smartphones.
• 67% of US consumers conduct pre-purchase research on their tablets at some point in their purchase journey.
• Among consumers who use tablets for research, 41% end up making the final purchase on tablets, 33% make the final purchase in store, and 32% use the laptop to make the final purchase.

• 74% of US consumers conduct pre-purchase research on their laptops at some point in their purchase journey.
• Among consumers who use laptops for research, 52% make the final purchase on laptops followed by 37% who make the final purchase in store and 21% use their tablets to make the final purchase.
• 60% of US shoppers conducted research in stores.
• Among the store researchers, 57% end up buying from the store compared to 29% who buy from their laptops.
• 53% of US smartphone using shoppers accessed the device when inside their homes in 2014 up from 32% in 2013.
• 76% of tablet using shoppers accessed the device in their homes in 2014.
• 49% of entertainment shoppers used their mobile device to browse and see options.
• 48% of telecom shoppers and 47% of auto shoppers used their mobile device to browse and find options compared to 36% of restaurant shoppers.
• 58% of US shoppers prefer visiting retailer website for product discovery.
• 33% of US shoppers preferred to access retailer branded apps.
• Only 13% of US shoppers prefer to discover products and services through opt-in notifications and alerts.
• 72% of US consumers use their mobile devices to research electronic products.
• 57% of shoppers in the clothing category and 46% in the shoes & fashion accessories category use their mobile devices to research products.
• 46% of US consumers research household items on mobile devices and 45% research appliances to discover possible purchase options.
• 49% of telecom shoppers conduct in-depth research on mobile devices to narrow down their choices compared to 20% of restaurant goers.
• 61% of smartphone using shoppers and 50% of tablet using shoppers look up possible locations they can visit near them.
• 52% of shoppers access smartphones and 44% access tablets to look up directions to local stores.
• 41% of US shoppers accessed smartphones and 42% accessed tablets to look up reviews and decide on which store to visit.
• 38% of smartphone using shoppers and 32% of tablet using shoppers called local stores asking for information such as opening and closing times, availability of product, and on-going promotions before deciding to visit.
• 80% of consumers use mobile devices inside a store to enhance their shopping experience, up from 64% a year ago.
• The most popular way to use mobile devices while in-store is to comparison shop (59%) followed by searching for coupons (48%) and reviews (47%).
• Retail stores are the top business venue for consumer mobile usage accounting for 31% of mobile connections followed by restaurants (21%), service-related venues (19%) and financial institutions (15%).
• 28% of in-store mobile usage happens in clothing stores followed by convenience stores (18%) and specialty stores (12%).
• 52% of US consumers share retail related posts on social media.
• 51% of consumers visit social media platforms to post pictures of items they are interested to purchase.
• Only 18% of consumers visit social media sites to post videos of the products they are considering for purchase.
• On average, 62% of consumers who used a mobile device during the shopping process made a purchase. An additional 16% deferred purchase for a future date.
• 49% of smartphone using shoppers and 42% of tablet using shoppers complete their purchase within an hour or less of using their mobile device to start browsing for options.
• On average 65% of mobile using shoppers make a purchase on the same day they started browsing for possible options on the device.
• 23% of US shoppers who used their mobile device inside a retail store made a purchase on the device itself up from 12% a year ago.
• For both smartphones and tablets people are most comfortable spending $100-$249. Smartphones outpace tablets for purchases under $250, while tablets outpace smartphones for purchase over $250.