News

Canadian consumers embracing mobile retail

March 1, 2011

Canadians are adopting new technologies that improve their shopping experiences faster than consumers in most other countries, according to an annual IBM global-shopping survey.

The survey of 30,000 consumers in 13 countries, including more than 2,000 Canadians, found that the number of Canadians willing to use mobile technologies to shop increased by 160 percent year-over-year, second only to U.S. consumers in uptake.

The poll also shows that the number of Canadian consumers who use two or more technologies, such as a website, mobile device or in-store kiosk, increased by 65 percent, almost double the global result, which reported a 36 percent increase year-to-year.

"It would appear Canadians' conservative attitude toward adopting new consumer technologies is changing rapidly to the point that consumers are ahead of retailers," says John Dawkins, IBM's Canadian retail sector lead.  "Wider access to bandwidth at lower rates, an increase in the number of Canadian wireless service providers, adoption of social media and a comparatively faster economic recovery are driving the emergence of a more complex, competitive and sophisticated shopper."

Other findings in the survey include:

• Shoppers are leveraging social media, blogs, YouTube and reviews, more than ever before to discuss retailers, products and brands with friends, family members and strangers;

• Consumers are checking prices in store, where 70 percent of final product selection happens, using smart phones and UPC tags to check competitive offerings;

• Consumers want a personalized shopping experience and will spend more and be more loyal to retailers who offer them quality, service and promotions on items they regularly buy and remember things such as their preferred payment methods;

• Consumers want to shop seamlessly across channels, check product prices wherever they are, get promotions based on the items they scan and use a personal mobile device to avoid the checkout lane.  

 IBM surveyed 30,624 consumers last October in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States.