Mobile Shopping Hits Unprecedented Levels This Holiday Season

Study by CFI Group, sponsored by eBay Enterprise, finds retailers are unprepared for rise in mobile consumers

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Nov 11, 2014, 10:36 ET

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A recent CFI Group study, sponsored by eBay Enterprise, finds mobile use is expected to be higher than ever before during this year's holiday shopping season, but retailers are not prepared to meet customers' mobile needs. According to Holiday Shopping 2014: Mobile on the Rise, which surveyed 1,000 consumers, 70 percent of consumers have used a smartphone to make a purchase in the last six months, up from 59 percent in 2013. Additionally, 41 percent of consumers said they plan on making even more purchases with their smartphones in 2015.

"We're witnessing an unprecedented rise in the popularity of mobile shopping and that is likely to increase as shoppers turn to their devices at home and in brick-and-mortar stores this holiday season," said CFI Group CEO Sheri Petras. "A strong mobile strategy will be the determining factor between this year's retail winners and losers."

The report found shoppers are using their phones mostly to compare pricing and read product reviews, but retailer's tech-enabled associates are using mobile devices primarily for transactional purposes. In fact, the data find 41 percent of tech interactions with customers merely facilitated checkout processes. For shoppers that received assistance from a tech-enabled associate, only 24 percent received assistance comparing store pricing to Web pricing and only 25 percent received assistance to check competitive pricing. Additionally, only 16 percent of associates were able to access product reviews on a customer's behalf.

With little or ineffective internal mobile device use from store associates, the study finds retailers must maximize consumers' self-service mobile options to be successful this holiday season by creating functional, easy-to-use mobile applications and websites. A full 54 percent of consumers say they use both mobile commerce sites and applications on their smartphones, though consumers report a 2:1 preference for mobile websites over applications.

"Integration is key to success," Petras said. "Retailers need to meet their customers at all shopping channels, especially mobile, if they want to be competitive this season."

While the number of mobile shoppers is rising, fear of security breaches is holding others back. The report finds a lack of comfort with transaction security is the leading cause of refusal to purchase on a handheld device. In fact, 42 percent of consumers expressed this fear in 2014, up from 34 percent of consumers in 2013. To download the report, visit Holiday Shopping 2014: Mobile on the Rise.

About CFI Group (www.cfigroup.com)

CFI Group is a global leader in providing customer feedback insights through analytics. CFI Group provides a technology platform that leverages the science of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). This platform continuously measures the customer experience across multiple channels, benchmarks performance, and prioritizes improvements for maximum impact.

Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, CFI Group serves global clients from a network of offices worldwide. Our clients span a variety of industries, including financial services, hospitality, manufacturing, telecom, retail and government. Regardless of your industry, we can put the power of our technology and the science of the ACSI methodology to work for you.

About eBay Enterprise (www.ebayenterprise.com)
eBay Enterprise is a leading global provider of omnichannel solutions, including commerce technologies, order management, retail operations and marketing services. Our comprehensive and modular solutions enable brands and retailers to deliver consistent consumer experiences across all retail touch points. Our expertise in commerce and omnichannel solutions provide our clients with the flexibility and control they need to accelerate sales growth and win with today's digitally connected consumer. eBay Enterprise is an eBay Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) company.

SOURCE CFI Group