Mobile retail is growing rapidly in the UK, with 9% of UK web users buying goods or services via mobile in 2011. 20% of UK smartphone users found retail store locations on their phones, and 15% took photos of products while in stores. Young males are driving mobile retail the most. One in five UK smartphone users searched for a retail store location on their phone in 2011. SMS is the dominant mobile payment system in the UK.

1. Mobile Retail in the UK
Edelman Digital, 28 January 2012
1

2. Introduction: Mobile Retail in the UK
In 2011, the installed base of smartphones in the UK has reached 32.4 million*
Many of those phones play a key role in the shopping behavior of UK
consumers, where in the last year:
• 9% of UK web users bought goods or services via mobile**
• 20% of UK smartphone users found a retail store location with their phone***
• 15% used a phone to photograph a product while in-store***
* mobileSQUARED.com
** “DIBS E-Commerce Survey 2011: A Comprehensive Study of European E-Commerce”, The October 2011
*** comScore MobiLens Report, Ctober 2011
2 2

3. Edelman and Mobile Retail
Here at Edelman, we have for years been working with global brands such as
Unilever, Diageo, Shell to make Social and Digital media a central part of their
marketing and communications strategy.
Now that half of Facebook and Twitter interaction happens on mobile devices,
and mobile penetration is five times that of social media, it’s time to take a
closer look at how Mobile can be used to evolve the conversation between
consumers and brands.
This presentation provides on overview of mobile behaviour and trends
emerging in the UK and EU5, drawing on research from leading organizations
such as comScore, eMarketer.com and mobileSquared.
3 3

4. A Mobile Society
4 4

5. Social media is Mobile
50% of Facebook
members are Nearly 50% of
mobile Tweets are from
(400 million mobile
people)
Mobile Facebook
Mobile will
users are twice
overtake PCs for
as active on
web surfing by
Facebook than
2013
non-mobile users
5

6. Europe leads the way with 120% mobile penetration
9.7
6 6

7. Top EU5 Smartphone Activities & Penetration
comScore, March2011
7

8. 8

9. How mobile is changing retail
9

10. Did you know 71 percent of
smartphone users that see TV, press
or online ad, do a mobile search.
Will they find your mobile site or your
competitors’?
Source: Google/Ipsos, “US consumer Mobile Movement survey”, April 2011
10

11. 4.7 million UK smartphone owners have accessed a retail site
comScore Mobilens report, October 2011 –
Mobile retail is one of the fastest growing
phenomena amongst smartphone users, with
more than 13.6 million EU5 smartphone owners
accessing a retail site in October 2011.
The UK had the largest audience with 4.7 million
people, but Germany accounted for the largest
increase in users with a 112 percent growth year-
over-year. The double or triple-digit growth rates
across Europe represent an excellent opportunity
for retailers to make their goods readily accessible
to today’s connected consumers.
11 11

12. Mobile Content
UK m-commerce revenue doubled from £123m in 2009 to £275m in 2010, and could hit £1bn this year.
Most popular purchases from mobile devices in the UK:
Mobile Content/Games 39%
Travel 12%
Apparel 10%
Consumer Electronics 10%
Entertainment Tickets 9%
Other 1%
Most popular purchases from mobile devices in the US
Mobile consumables/games 42 per cent
Consumer Electronics 19 per cent
Apparel 15 per cent
Entertainment Tickets 13 per cent
Travel 11 per cent
Source: May 2010 InMobi survey of 15,000 mobile users in 14 countries about their shopping habits
12 12

13. Smartphones open up a whole new world for consumers
13 13

14. …and have become an in-store shopping tool
In October 2011, nearly 22 percent of EU5 mobile users took a picture of the product while in a retail store,
making it the most popular e-commerce related activity. A significant percentage of smartphone users in retail
stores also texted or called friends or family about a product (14.9 percent). New technologies also gained
traction with European smartphone users with 6 percent scanning a QR code in-store.
14 14

15. Young Males are driving mobile retail
15 15

16. 1 in 5 UK Smartphone Users Searched for Retail Store Location
In the UK, the top retail/e-commerce activity
performed on a smartphone was finding a
store location, with 20.2 percent of
smartphone owners using the service in
August 2011. 15.3 percent of all smartphone
users in the UK took a picture of a product
while in a store, making it the second most
popular retail-related activity performed via
smartphone.
Looking at the top 10 e-commerce activities,
users are taking advantage of their
smartphone to gather information before
purchasing a product or service. Activities like
contacting their friends/family via text (14.2
percent) comparing prices (12.7 percent),
finding coupons or deals (11.7) and sending a
picture (8.7 percent) of the product to friends/
family while in the retail store.
16 16

17. 13.2% of UK smartphone owners have scanned QR codes
The overall European audience for QR or bar codes was considerably larger than for in-store, as codes can
not only be scanned while in a retail store but also at home, at work, on public transport or even while
dining in a restaurant. The highest penetration of QR code users was in Germany, with nearly 15 percent
making use of this emerging technology in October 2011.
17 17

18. Mobile browser versus apps
For every shopping activity, including researching products and prices,
reviews, promotions and purchasing products, most respondents in the US
(61-81%) preferred browser to native app. (Adobe/Keynote Mobile Report,
October 2010)
However, in the UK, 47 per cent using m-commerce through apps, 22 per
cent through mobile site and 31 per cent through both.(InMobi Mobile
Shopping Report, May 2011)
18 18

19. SMS is the dominant mobile payment system
DIBS Payment Services and YouGov noted that in the UK, as in other EU-5 countries, top product
categories bought via mobile in 2011 included media (such as games and music) and travel tickets. Over
half (56%) of mobile payments were made via SMS, while 22% were added to the buyer’s mobile phone
bill.
19 19

20. 82% of UK mobile buyers spend up to £100 via mobile
20 20

21. 16% of UK internet users prefer mobile to redeem vouchers
21 21

22. UK Has Highest Penetration of Social Networking via
Smartphone in EU5
Over 45 percent of all smartphone users accessed a
social networking site or blog in EU5 (France,
Germany, Italy, Spain & UK) during the three month
average ending October 2011.
A closer look at the different markets showed that
the UK has the highest penetration of social
networking users, with 61 percent of all smartphone
owners accessing social networks or blogs.
22 22

23. UK Mobile Users Access Social Networking More Frequently
In September 2011, 17 million UK mobile users
accessed social networking sites or blogs on their
mobile device, representing 35 percent of the total
mobile audience. More than half – 57 percent – of
this audience reported accessing social networking
sites on a daily basis. Interestingly, the growth in
daily social networking use from the previous year
outpaced that of mobile social networking access
as a whole (57 percent vs. 36 percent), indicating
that the mobile platform is proving to be conducive
to very frequent social networking use.
23 23

24. 20.4 million people in the UK use mobile media
In October 2011, 76 percent of
smartphone owners in the EU5 were
mobile media users, meaning that they
browsed the mobile web, accessed
applications, or downloaded content.
The impressive 62 percent growth in
the total number of mobile media users
in the past year is largely attributable to
the acceleration in smartphone
adoption, 3G/4G network quality, and
the increasing ubiquity of aggressively
priced data plans, all of which facilitate
the consumption of mobile media.
Amongst the five European countries
analysed, Germany stands out with the
fastest growth rate of 89 percent while
the UK had the largest audience with
20.4 million mobile media users via
smartphones. 24 24

25. In 2011, 1 in 3 US Smartphone Buyers Made Purchase on
Their Phone While in a Store
In the U.S., 38% of smartphone owners have used their
phone to make a purchase at least once in the course of
their device ownership. In September 2011, 56% of
smartphone purchasers completed their transaction
while at home, leading as the most popular purchase
location. 42% of consumers made purchases while out
of home (i.e. restaurants, parks, etc.) or at work, with
37% making purchases while traveling/commuting.
Slightly more than one in three purchasers used their
smartphone to buy while in a store, highlighting the
increasingly important role mobile is playing in
consumers’ brick and mortar retail experience,
especially as a tool for real-time price and product
comparisons.
EU5 Data for these behaviours have not yet been
released
25 25

26. Conclusion
Point of View: comScore Europe
“Mobile commerce is taking off and reshaping expectations for the retail industry. Consumers will continue
to expect mobile commerce as a fact of life and will only accelerate their usage of mobile devices to
conduct commerce transactions. Retailers and advertisers need to embrace the mobile commerce use
case and develop compelling consumer solutions built across the leading mobile ecosystems.”
Point of View: Edelman Digital
With 50% of social networking taking place on mobile phones, we have a tremendous opportunity to
connect the dots between emerging consumer behaviours in digital marketing and mobile retail. Search
and mobile optimization are key, with the majority of people now searching for mobile content after seeing
an advert or press about a brand or product. Retail brands need to streamline their communications and
social media programmes to resonate as strongly, and more personally, in the mobile sphere.
26 26