37 percent of US mobile phone users go online while shopping in a store- report

According to a recent report released by research firm GfK, the activities customers regularly do on their mobile phones while they are inside a store are comparing prices and contacting a friend or family member for advice – both cited by 40% of respondents. The third most common behaviour is taking pictures of products that respondents might buy (36%).

The study points out that in the US, getting in touch with a trusted person is slightly more common (39%) among mobile phone users than comparing prices (37%). In both cases, the US was one of the 10 countries reporting the highest incidences of these behaviours.

Globally, the research continues, men are more likely than women (42% of men versus 37% of women) to use their mobile phones in-store to compare prices on a regular basis. Among key age groups, young adults (ages 20 to 29) check prices online most frequently, with half (49%) reporting this behavior.

In the US, men and women were evenly split (37% of men, 36%,of women respectively) when it comes to comparing prices in-store; and the youngest shoppers (ages 15 to 19) were by far the most likely to report this behavior, at 55%. The 20-to-29 and 30-to-39 age segments were tied for second in the US, at 47% each.

Looking at other countries, the report indicates that shoppers in South Korea, China, and Turkey are the most likely to compare prices in-store on their mobile phones, with 59%, 54% and 53%, respectively, saying they regularly do this.

Globally, men and women are almost equally likely to use their mobile phones inside a store to contact a friend or family member for advice (40% of women and 39% of men say they regularly do this). Among the age groups, young adults (ages 20 to 29) lead in this particular activity (48%), while teens (ages 15 to 19) follow closely (47%), and those ages 30 to 39 trail at 40%.

The survey also highlights that US women are slightly more likely (41% of women versus 37% of men) to say they reach out to trusted people in their lives while shopping in stores. A remarkable 65% of teens reported this activity, compared to 54% of young adults (ages 20 to 29), and 40% of those ages 30 to 39.

Other commonly cited in-store activities among US mobile phone users were: taking pictures of actual products they might buy (34%), taking pictures of advertisements, descriptions and other information about products (26%), scanning bar codes or QR codes (24%), buying products through an “app” on their mobile devices (19%), and buying products through the store’s or another website (17%).

For the survey, GfK interviewed more than 25,000 mobile phone users aged 15 or older in 23 countries either online or face-to-face in summer 2014. The countries included are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and US.