Mobility in Belgium
Time to Invest

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Introduction
The increasing use of mobile devices is rapidly changing the
business landscape on a global scale. Mobile penetration is
already remarkable and mobile adoption curves continue to
climb fast. Mobile devices are no longer simply convenience
tools or expensive toys; they are becoming the most important
medium for users to connect to the Internet. The new age of
mobility—apps, mobile sites, WIFI, 3G and 4G—opens up plenty
of opportunities for companies to better engage with their
customers. In order to identify relevant trends for the local
market, Accenture has conducted a behavioral survey in Belgium
to take the pulse of people already using a mobile device.
About the survey
In January 2013, Accenture conducted an online survey with 1038 mobile device
users based in Belgium.
The target group covered smartphone users and tablet users. 79 percent of those
surveyed uses a smartphone whereas 58 percent of those surveyed uses a tablet
and 37 percent combine the usage of both devices.

3
Executive summary
The survey delivers insights into Belgian market trends and
answers questions that will help companies continue to
develop their mobile capabilities and support wiser investment
decisions in this technology.
1) The digital customer segment
is ready to go mobile – The
mobile offering is currently
lagging behind
Today more than 90% of mobile device users are
purchasing goods and accessing services online.How
can the mobile channel better leverage this?
The population already regularly using a mobile
device is growing. This population is a very attractive
customer segment with high purchasing power.
Currently, 47% of the Belgian active population goes
nearly every day online via Smartphone and 32% via
Tablet, this last also being a fast growing segment
especially by the 30+. This segment is ready to be
fully digitally served.
In some industries, Mobile buyers are already
spending more than half of their digital budget via
mobile devices: Depending on the type of product,
18% to 44% spend more than half of their digital
budget via their mobile device.
However, use of mobile devices is not yet
comparable to desktop use. This may be due to
an underdeveloped mobile offering or a lack of
customer experience.
Companies need to seize the opportunity to develop
the right sales and service approach for the mobile
customer and tap into this potentially profitable
customer segment.
2) Apps rule: Don’t make it a
mobile website
Although there is growing demand for mobile
offerings, companies should refrain from simply
transposing their existing online presence to a
smaller screen. Our study shows that customers
are looking for value-adding apps rather than
mobile-enabled websites that are easy to use.
In order to be relevant, companies need to build new
capabilities that answer their customers’ needs –
rather than extending existing services to another
channel.
3) Three OS dominate
Windows is now the clear N°3 in the Belgian
market. The trio iOS, Android, and Windows cover
92% of the market. This offers a clear choice for
companies to concentrate their mobile efforts on
the three leading operating systems in order to
satisfy the large majority of their customers.

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Smartphone
0% 60%50%40%30%20%10%
Tablet
Desktop/laptop
Higher use No change Lower use
Smartphone
0% 60%50%40%30%20%10%
Tablet
Desktop/laptop
Higher use No change Lower use
Pre-sale: Online search for information on consumer goods
The digital customer segment is ready to go mobile –
The mobile offering is currently lagging behind
Mobile device users are heavy online consumers.
When looking at Internet use without taking into
consideration the device used to get online, 96%
of mobile users have searched for information
on consumer goods in the past 12 months and
86% have purchased consumer goods online.
The survey shows that tablets and smartphones
are used across all age groups but they attract the
highest usage among students and the working
population. Whereas the use of smartphones is
widespread, the working population dominates
in terms of the use of tablets, indicating that
tablet access and use are subject to ownership.
All users combined, we see that 57% of
smartphone users are going online daily, and
this proportion increases among the owners
of tablets – of which 64% go online daily.
The mobile device user has a large appetite for
online services, pre-purchase preparation and
actual purchasing. Ninety-six percent of mobile
device users have been searching for information
online with the intention of buying goods, whereas
87% of mobile device users have been buying
goods online. In addition, 95% of mobile device
users are using online customer services.
Pre-purchase preparation
If we look at the development of mobile
device usage, we see that growth rates are
significantly higher for tablets (44%) and
smartphones (35%) compared to the traditional
desktop, with some industries – like travel,
media, and groceries leading the transition.
Purchasing goods & services
Depending on the type of product 18% to 44% of
people buying via mobile devices spend more than
50% of their digital budget via their mobile device
Looking to the future, we also see a significant
increase in the use of mobile devices to purchase
products, this increase isn’t as steep as for pre-
purchase preparation with smartphones (17%)
and tablets (18%), and it is still predicted to
grow slower than desktop transactions (32%).
Online customer services
Similar to the online purchase process, we also
see that for certain types of customer services
the penetration of the tablet or smartphone is
becoming significant when compared to the
desktop (i.e. online bank transactions now stand
at 11% for smartphones and 11% for tablets).
The penetration of the desktop for online customer
services remains very strong (over 94 % on average)
compared with tablets (11 %) and smartphones (7%).
Sale: Online purchase of consumer goods

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In selected industries, the mobile customer segment
is spending via mobile
Travel & Transport:
44% of people buying online via
Mobile device allocate 50% or more
of their annual online budget to
mobile transactions
Media, books & press:
43% of people buying online via
Mobile device allocate 50% or more
of their annual online budget to
mobile transactions
Groceries:
38% of people buying online via
Mobile device allocate 50% or more
of their annual online budget to
mobile transactions
Part of Mobile buyers spending more than 50% of their yearly online purchase budget via Mobile
Travel & Transport
0% 50%40%30%20%10%
Media, Books & Press
Groceries

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Apps rule: Don’t make it a mobile website
The mobile environment currently provides a
wide range of apps covering nearly all consumer
services and access to the consumer goods
market. While such online activities are also
enabled via mobile websites, apps appear
to be the preferred route for current mobile
consumers. On average, the use of apps is 1,5
times greater than the use of mobile websites,
and this trend is corroborated in all segments
of the consumer goods and services market.
The message from the customer is clear: not only
do they already preferring using apps over mobile
websites today, but they also are indicating that
they will significantly increase their use of apps
over the next year. In fact, out of the mobile device
users interviewed for this survey, 30% indicated
their intention to extend their use of apps.
Use of App versus use of Mobile websites
Booking
Tickets
Health services
Utility services
Financial Services
Media, Books & Press
Telecom
IT equipment
Travel & Transport
Groceries
Fashion
Health care
Home & Office
0% 25%20%15%10%5%
Mobile sites App’s

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OS: Windows now established as N°3 in the Belgian market
The Belgian market is not fragmented. Rather we see
it is consolidating around three Operating Systems
(OS): iOS, Android, and Windows. Together, they
cover 92% of the market.
Another global trend the market faces – and which
is fundamental to success – is the multi operating
system landscape. Belgium is no exception. In
recent years, the diversity of operating systems has
been growing with two major players (Android and
iOS) still dominating the market, whereas in other
countries, Windows has a slightly higher market
share than in Belgium.
While users are divided between the different
leading operating systems, the availability of apps
that function across all of them is essential to
reach the whole mobile market potential and not to
frustrate existing customers.
Use of Operating Systems
Windows
iOS (Apple)
Android
Blackberry
Other
12%
34%
46%
5%
3%

About the Authors
Wim Decraene
Managing Director Mobility Services
Accenture Brussels
Wim Decraene is a Managing Director at Accenture,
based in Brussels, in charge of Accenture Mobility
Services for the Belgian and Luxembourg market.
In this role, he has the responsibility of working
closely with companies and governmental
agencies to drive their development of assets and
capabilities to meet the Mobile revolution. For the
last 6 years, Wim has been advising a broad range
of clients in the Financial Services and Products
industry on how to best unlock value in the e- and
m-Commerce space. In particular, he has been
working with large banks and insurers to develop
strategies for their role in the mobile-commerce
ecosystem. Wim is also the Strategy Practice
Lead for Accenture BeLux. He joined Accenture in
1998 and holds a Masters degree as Commercial
Engineer from the Catholic University of Leuven.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting,
technology services and outsourcing company, with
approximately 261,000 people serving clients in
more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled
experience, comprehensive capabilities across all
industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the world’s most successful companies,
Accenture collaborates with clients to help
them become high-performance businesses and
governments. The company generated net revenues of
US$27.9 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2012.
Its home page is www.accenture.com.
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