This presentation delivers the results of a study made last summer by Mobilosoft on the shoppers' use of their smartphones while doing shopping. This study has been realised in Belgium. Different areas are covered in this study: - Pre-shopping: how are smartphone used to prepare shopping activities (includes: SMS, Geolocation, mobile search, Apps vs Mobile sites,...). - During Shopping: how is it used while doing shopping (includes: showrooming, QR Codes, ...). - Social Shopping: how do they use social media on their smartphones for shopping-related activities. - Mobile Loyalty: what are the behaviors and expectations in terms of Mobile Loyalty. - After Shopping: how are mobile used when shopping is done.

1. How do Belgian shoppers use their
smartphone as a shopping companion
?
Study by Mobilosoft

2. During this summer, Mobilosoft went in the
commercial streets and centers of Belgium to
meet the shoppers !
Our objective: understand how they use their
smartphone as a shopping tool!
Is there a bias ? Yesssss ! We met only
shoppers, so that we could provide info on
shoppers only. We weren’t interested by “Mr
Everybody”

3. The author
This study has been
conducted under the
supervision of
Georges-Alexandre
Hanin, Founder and CEO
of Mobilosoft
• Twitter: @gahanin
• LinkedIn: Georges-
Alexandre Hanin

4. About Mobilosoft.com
Mobilosoft is the best European
solution to create a mobile website
for the Retail sector :
• Create a mobile site that fits your
consumers’ expectation
Mobilosoft is the only tool that also
synchronise your content with
social media and search engines:
• Google
• Facebook
• Foursquare

5. Via a single database
Update it once & get it right
everywhere !

6. Methodology
We made a questionnaire and went in the big cities of
Belgium: Brussels, Antwerp, Gent, Brugge, Liège,
Namur & Mons:
• 566 people have answered the questionnaire
• Respondents were aged between 15 years and 82 years with
an average of 35 years. We made 3 categories
– Young: 15y – 25y
– Mature: 25y – 40y
– Seniors: 40y+
• 56% of the respondents owned a smartphone
– 54% of non-smartphone owners told they want to have one soon!
• 53% mens – 47% womens

7. PRE-SHOPPING
How do Belgian shoppers use their
smartphones before going shopping ?

8. Smartphone as a tool to get
promotions

9. 72% of smartphone owners have already received
a promotion on their smartphone
The youngest - 78% - and the Percentage
ladies - 80% - have the
highest percentages. Electronic voucher 26%
Promotions have mainly been Push notification 45%
received by text messages
and electronic vouchers are National promo by
62%
already present in the sms
landscape !
Local promo by sms 52%
On the contrary, who do not
own a smartphone, are not Event invitation 9%
interested in receiving
promotions per sms (56%) !

10. Which promotions are the most relevant ?
Ladies prefers to be invited to
Electronic 9%
voucher 22%
events while men are eager to
receive local promotions.
10%
Game
0% National promotions don’t
seems to be interesting for
National 11% Mens
promotion 0%
womens as it is the case for
Ladies
games.
27%
Local promotion
31%
Older people have the
22%
highest willingness to get
Event invitation
41% local promotions with 72% !

11. Consumers take action after having received a
promotional sms on their smartphone !
45% of smartshoppers Percentage
search on their smartphone
after having received a Search on Mobile 45%
promotion on it ! This goes
to 50% for the seniors! Search on computer 29%
24% go to the shop… !
Search on tablet 10%
SMS is a matter of “all or
nothing” ! 36% of Read & Delete 36%
smartphone users say they
read it and delete it
Go to Shop 24%
immediately! It goes to 50%
for the seniors.

12. When smartshoppers go to the stores after
receiving an SMS, they buy more…
Most ladies have bought more
I haven't bought 45% than the product/service
anything 31%
proposed in the sms !
I bought 19%
another product On the men’s part, the majority
/ service 12%
Mens as bought the product/service
I bought the Ladies proposed in the sms or
product / 30%
something else.
service of the 54%
sms and more
I bought the It is at the men’s part that
product / 6%
service of the 4%
people buy the less when
sms going to the shop.

13. The majority of smartphone owners have already received
promotions on their smartphones. The media that is currently
preferred by retailers is the SMS.
Local promotions and invitations to events are the most
relevant kind of SMS marketing actions for smartshoppers.
When well done, consumers like them and act on it ! The most
common actions are to search on mobile and to go to the stores
! It is then mandatory for Retailers to foresee a mobile
interface for their website!
More than ever when knowing that consumers go to the stores
after having received a mobile promotion buy and buy more
than what they have been invited to!

14. Smartphone as a tool to search
while shopping

15. Consumers use their smartphone to search for
more information when exposed to off-line
advertising
Newspapers and magazines Percentage
have a high impact on mobile
search! After viewing an add in
this type of media, shoppers like Posters / billboards in
28%
to search for more info on their the street
smartphones!
This behavior is less important for Adds in newspapers
57%
the junior (47%), but much more or magasines
for the seniors (87%).
When interviewing the non- Radio adds 11%
smartphone owners, we
understand they are also
interested in having a
smartphone to search for more TV adds 19%
info ! A bit less for the written
press (45%), but much higher for
posters/billboards in the street
(28%) and Radio adds

16. They like to search for products, promotions and
places
Percentage After having being exposed to
Social
an off-line add, the majority of
5%
Networks mobile searches are for
products and promotions !
Find a shop 29%
Game 18% Then, comes the localization
Percentage (your shops) and prices.
Price 22%
Product 86%
Promotion 67%

17. As many shoppers use their smartphone to search, it is
very important to offer them a nice mobile version of their
site. What will they be looking for ?
Your 4 P’s:
• Products
• Promotions
• Places
• Prices
Mobile Marketing is very easy ! It is only a question of
displaying nicely your most conventional
information !

18. Geolocation, something in which
you should invest !

19. Have you already / would you like to use
geolocation on your smartphone for shopping ?
Smartphone owners Non-smartphone owners
19%
40%
Yes Yes
No No
60%
81%

20. To search for what type of retailer ?
Smartphone owners Non-smartphone owners
72%
Bar Bar or 76%
79%
restaurant 73%
0%
Wellness center
70%
67%
53% Haircutter
Restaurant 12%
66% Mens Mens
0% Ladies Ladies
Haircutter 27%
81% Grocery shop
22%
13%
Grocery shop
64%
36%
29% Tankstation
Tankstation 18%
0%

21. Which tool are shoppers using to geolocalise ?
Spontaneously
Suggestion remembered
remembered
Foursquare 41%
Foursquare 20%
Google +
Google + Facebook Facebook
92%
Foursquare Places Places
Foursquare
Google + 49%
Google + 98%

22. Will you use more geolocation in the future ?
9%
Yes
No
91%

23. Geolocation is recognised by shoppers as
the tool they all want to use!
What does it means to Retailers?
1. They should be ready and have a mobile
site
2. They should also be ready on the social
networks:
– Google +
– Facebook Places
– Foursquare

24. Apps VS Mobile Site

25. The majority of shoppers having a smartphone do not
know the difference between Apps and Mobile Sites !
Men Ladies
34%
Yes 43% Yes
No No
57%
66%

26. But they would rather use the web when shopping
!
When they need more info Percentage
while doing
shopping, smartphone Apps 18%
owners tend to prefer
using the web.
Their first reflex is to use Search Engines 77%
the search engines and
then the websites.
Website 46%
Apps are only used by 18%
of the shoppers.

27. Why would you use a mobile site while shopping ?
When doing
To search for a 47%
shopping, smartphone owners
shop 62%
would rather use a mobile site to
search for a promotion and to
to search for a 39%
promo 66% find a store.
To compare Mens The third reason is to find
16%
products/servic
es 16% Ladies product information.
To compare 16% Some also like to compare
prices 16% prices, products or services.
To find product 35% It is interesting to note that ladies
info 45%
seems to be using more mobile
sites than men!

28. There is no point in comparing mobile sites and
mobile Apps. Sites are most commonly used
by mobile shoppers!
 Retailers must focus on mobile sites first
!
What is not in this study, but can be found over the web is
that Apps will be most used when wanting to deepen the
conversation with consumers through loyalty programs for
instance.

29. DURING SHOPPING
How do Belgian shoppers use their
smartphones while doing shopping ?

30. Showrooming

31. Wikipedia:
“Showrooming is the act of examining merchandise in
a Brick & Mortar retail store without purchasing it
there, then shopping online to find a lower price for the
same item”
Thanks to mobile technologies, more and more
showroomers also use this technique to find another
store where to buy the same product but cheaper or a
similar product cheaper.

32. Have you already used a price comparison tool
while being in a shop ?
Men Ladies
27%
49% Yes Yes
51% No No
63%

33. Which tool are you using to search for info on a
product while being in a store ?
Percentage Again, the first reflex of
shoppers having a
Brand App 12%
smartphone is to go on
Shopping
search engines. Based on
18%
App our experience, Google is
Search used in 98% of the cases !
77%
engine
Percentage
Generic Then, websites are what
45%
website
people visit when having
Website of
the brand
40% questions. It can be from the
brand, the retailers or a
Website of
the shop
46% generic one!

34. What kind of information where you looking for
while being in a store ?
The majority of shoppers who Percentage
own a smartphone are looking
for info about the product or
In-store promo 13%
service they want to buy!
From time to time, they also Shop 53%
are looking for more info about
other shops where to buy
the product. Product 87%
Then comes price and
information about promotions Service 74%
proposed in the stores.
This repartition is pretty similar Price 37%
on each age and sex slices.

35. How is the information found on a smartphone
compared to what you get from the sales
assistant ? 15-25 y
It is interesting to note that 7%
for every selected age
slices, more people think 41% Less good
that the info found via a As good
smartphone is better than 52% Better
the one received from the
sales assistant !
25-40 y 40 +
3%
20%
39% Less good Less good
47%
As good As good
58% Better 33% Better

36. If this service was more adapted to
smartphones, would you use it mostly ?
9%
Yes
No
91%

37. Showrooming is an activity that will be
more and more done by customers !
And Retailers should not be afraid of
that, according to a study made by
Deloitte*, showrooming will have much more
impact on in-store sales than on e-commerce
sales !
It is just a matter of being ready for it and
providing the relevant information for the
customers !
* http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/Retail-Distribution/deebf5bbc7d28310VgnVCM2000001b56f00aRCRD.htm

38. QR codes

39. Have you already scanned a QR code ?
Men Ladies
Yes 49% Yes
49%
51% No 63% No
39% of non-smartphone owners know what is a QR code !

40. To see what type of information ?
There are many reasons why
38%
A shop shoppers scan QR codes.
51%
The majority is to see more
85%
A product details about a product or
97%
service !
69%
A service
88%
An invitation to 15%
Then, it is to see adds and
Social Networks 9% Men promotions. Shops arrive in
Ladies the 5th position with 38% of
37%
A promotion men and 51% of ladies.
32%
48%
An online Add
50%

41. What do smartphone owners after having
scanned a QR code while in a store ?
In the majority of the
cases, smartphone owners 78%
Buy a product
have bought after the 92%
scanning of a QR code!
6%
But every scanning doesn’t Ask an advice to the
seller
14%
lead to a purchase ! In many
cases, the shopper leave
the shop without buying. 69%
Left the shop without
buying
53%

42. Would you use mobile scanning more if retailers
were proposing more possibilities for it ?
15-25 y
Younger groups seems to 8%
have more interest for QR
codes. Nevertheless, in all Yes
the age groups, a vast No
majority of smartphone 92%
owners would love to
scan more !
25-40 y 40 +
14% 0
21%
Yes Yes
No No
86% 79%

43. QR codes are more and more used by consumers.
And even if many marketeers will say “it is not working”
or “the results are not good”, it is probably because
they haven’t done it themselves of because they did
it on a wrong way !
Want to know how to create a nice QR code
campaign? Read this: http://mobilosoft.com/blog/how-to-create-a-value-added-qr-
code-campaign/

44. Social shopping

45. When doing shopping, is friends and family
advice important ?
Smartphone owners Non-smartphone owners
10%
13% 11% Very
22% Very important
important Important
Important 27%
Moderately
Moderately important
52%
important Unimportant
65%

46. Have you already shared on the social media
while doing your shopping ?
15-25 y
It is not a surprise to learn
that the youngest share
more than the oldest ! The 37% Yes
surprise is to have almost No
20% of peoples aged 40 63%
and more using social
media sharing while
shopping !
25-40 y 40 +
0
19%
36% Yes Yes
No No
64%
81%

47. Through which networks are you sharing the data
while doing shopping ?
Facebook is the first media
25% used while doing shopping!
Pinterest
31% Then comes Foursquare
and, in Belgium, Pinterest is
93% before Twitter!
Facebook
88%
Another surprise come with
48% the fact that men share more
Foursquare Men
59%
Ladies on Facebook and Ladies on
Foursquare !
33%
Twitter
19%

48. About what are smartphone-owner shoppers
sharing ?
When doing Percentage
shopping, smartphone About an event
happening in the 44%
owners share on the social store
media a wide variety of
topics.: Aout a product 55%
promos, products, events, th
e shop… About a promo 50%
About a totally other
61%
External stuffs also topic
influence the social media
About the shop itself 55%
sharing during shopping!

49. Will you communicate more often about your
shopping on social media in the future ?
15-25 y
In the future, this practice
will become bigger and
bigger! Retailers should be 37%
Yes
ready for it ! 73%
No
25-40 y 40 +
0 0
36% Yes 47% Yes
No 53% No
64%

50. Social media sharing become more and more
important in the life of consumers. They like to share
what they do.
When you know that a consumer is 4 times more likely
to buy a product from a brand/store whose Facebook
page is liked by a friend, there is no reason why not to
invest in it!
On your mobile sites and Apps, you should promote
social media sharing !

51. Mobile Loyalty

52. Have you already used a mobile loyalty card ?
Percentage A mobile loyalty card is a
loyalty card stored on the
customers smartphone.
21% Offering this type of service
seems to be very interesting
Yes for consumers. But at the
No moment it doesn’t seems to be
79%
well used!

53. Would you like to use a mobile loyalty card in
the future ?
Smartphone owners Non-smartphone owners
10%
35%
Yes Yes
No No
65%
90%

54. While it is not yet used by smartphone owners, there is
a strong interest in such programs: the mobilization of
loyalty cards.
Many initiatives already exist in this area. A new
example is the passbook proposed by Apple: all the
loyalty cards may be stored in the iPhone (more info
here).
But the main problem we see in the market is the fact
that the majority of Retailers are not able to read the
screens of the smartphone with their current barcode
readers !

55. POST-SHOPPING
How do Belgian shoppers use their
smartphones after they went shopping ?

56. After shopping

57. Have you already searched for information about a
product you purchased in a shop with your mobile
?
Percentage On which support ?
Shopping
10%
App
19%
Yes Desktop site 66% On which
No support ?
81%
Mobile site 26%
0% 50% 100%

58. Have you already used your smartphone to
check, after a purchase, if you made a good deal ?
Percentage While looking for more info
about the product is not really
an activity that has some
success, quite some people
check if they really made a
good deal!
44%
Yes
No
56% Almost 50% of smartphone
users report they have used
their smartphone to check this!

59. Have you used / would you like to use your
smartphone to redeem cash-back coupons ?
Smartphone owners Non-smartphone owners
31%
45%
Yes Yes
No No
55%
69%

60. Smartphones are not yet used as an extensive tool for
post-purchase reasons. We see some potential in the
cash-back part.
And it is interesting to note that non-smartphone
owners would be the most interested target !

61. Conclusions : it is time to act !

62. From this study, Retailers should retain that more than
half of their shoppers may have a smartphone in
their pocket while shopping ! They are interested in
getting more in touch with the retailers thanks to their
smartphone.
What do they expect? The expectations are quite
simple: get info about the 4 P’s
(Products, Promotions, Places and Prices) and being
able to share the word via the social networks.

63. Is there an opportunity to tackle?
Yes ! When you know that only 7% of the retailers
have a mobile website*, there is some space for the
first who will act !
Another opportunity is available in the mobile loyalty
card… But some investments are necessary in the
barcode readers.
http://www.slideshare.net/mobilosoft/mobile-web-presence-among-the-belgian-retail-sector

64. More info ?
• Contact: ga@mobilosoft.com
• Blog: http://www.mobilosoft.com/blog
• Audit tools:
– Test your site: http://www.mobilosoft.com/testyoursite