Smartphones are now the most popular device for searching for groceries online, new data from the BRC-Google Online Retail Monitor (ORM) revealed earlier this week.
A spectacular summer (towards the end, anyway) and the fact you can buy a decent smartphone for under £90 these days have led to an increase in online search traffic, with the meat and poultry sector seeing the biggest boost to search volume. The growth rate of smartphone searches for meat & poultry (43% on smartphones) was significantly above all other grocery categories in Q3 2016, followed by BBQs and grills (35%) and wine (32%).
So what does a spike in mobile searches tell us about shopper behaviour – and what are the implications for retailers and suppliers?
In a little under 10 years the smartphone has had a huge impact on UK society in general, with many industries, particularly media, adopting a mobile-first strategy to enable them to continue to engage with their users. And now mobile-first thinking is moving up the agenda in other industries, too.
It’s estimated that four out of five adults now own a smartphone – and in the 18 to 44 age bracket adoption is more like 91%, the equivalent of 21 million people, according to another recent report by Deloitte. That has profound implications for that age group’s purchasing behaviour.
Indeed, the rise of smartphone use among the young was highlighted in detail at this year’s IGD online conference, where delegates were told in no uncertain terms that “today’s up-and-coming consumers are more impatient, demanding and disloyal than ever – meaning retailers have to work harder than ever to keep them on board.”
Whatever business you are in, speed and automatic fulfilment designed for smartphone users will be key to success or failure.
Double-digit growth
According to ORM, grocery search volumes on smartphone devices saw double-digit growth in every month of Q3 2016. September saw the strongest growth, up 34%. Key factors, when looking at the figures, suggest the launch of Apple’s iPhone 7 and the Indian summer-like conditions had an impact, as did the Olympics, Wimbledon and Euro 2016 earlier in the summer.
Not all mobile devices are equal, however. While the ORM findings show search volumes across all devices rose 11% in Q3 2016 compared with a year earlier, grocery search volumes on tablet devices fell 10%. Search volumes on tablets fell particularly sharply for French cuisine (-21%) and sports drinks (-18%).
The decline in tablet use can be attributed to two factors. Firstly, lines are now being blurred on both sides with bigger smartphones and smaller laptops. Secondly, Android tablets are not that great, except for playing video games perhaps, and since Apple brought out the iPad 2 five years ago, nothing much has changed with its general features.
Growing mobile use isn’t always good news, of course. The Deloitte study highlights a number of negative impacts on human behaviour, with a 10th of smartphone owners saying they instinctively reach for their phones as soon as they wake up – and not just to turn off their alarm. A third reach for their phones within five minutes of waking, and there are the constant and often overwhelming demands of social media to keep up with.
But smartphone use also encourages creativity and, crucially for the grocery industry, consumption. For better or worse, smartphones are here for good – and they can be a force for good. At the end of the day it comes down to how you use them – and what you use them for.
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