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March 2023 - Retail

74% of consumers regularly use retailers' mobile apps when shopping in-store: A global survey of consumers has revealed that more than three-quarters use retailer mobile apps regularly (78%), with 74% saying they use retailer apps when shopping instore.

The research by mobile app experience company, Airship polled 11,000 consumers across 10 countries including the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, South Africa, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Brazil.

Consumers in Indonesia used retailer apps the most when shopping in physical stores according to the findings (83%), followed by South Africa (81%), Singapore (80%) and Thailand (78%). France used the apps the least (63%), followed by Germany (65%), Canada (70%) and the UK (72%). Three-quarters of US respondents said they use retailer apps when shopping instore (75%), with an equal percentage of consumers from Brazil saying the same (75%).

The research asked respondents about ten different activities they may use their smartphone for when shopping instore, including comparing prices, reading user reviews and to use loyalty cards. It found that using the retailer’s app whilst shopping in-store was the activity that has grown the most in the last 12 months, growing from 65% in 2022 to 74% in 2023.

Other activities that had seen an increase included visiting the retailer’s website (76% in 2023 vs. 68% in 2022), using loyalty cards or coupons stored on a smartphone (81% vs. 73%), scanning QR codes or tapping NFC tags for info or incentives (64% vs. 57%), comparing prices via searches such as Google or Amazon (78% vs. 71%), and reading user reviews (73% vs. 65%).

Other instore activities consumers undertook on their smartphones whilst shopping included click and collect purchases or curb side pickups (69% vs. 63%) and paying using contactless using methods such as Apple Pay (69% vs. 63%).

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