Online shopping in Australia set to increase on mobile phones – AIMIA releases ninth annual Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index

AIMIA today released the independent findings of the 2013 Australian Mobile Phone Lifestyle Index (AMPLI). Each year the survey provides valuable independent information and identifies trends regarding the preferences of Australian mobile phone users. This year’s report also looks at online shopping and purchasing behaviours on mobile phones.

– Almost 60 per cent of respondents owned a tablet, up from 38 per cent in 2012

– Apple continues to dominate with iPhone and iPad the most popular handset and tablet respectively

– In terms of specific entertainment service and content being accessed, videos and video downloads and streaming music on the mobile phone experienced the greatest growth in the last year

Dr Marisa Maio Mackay, Director of Complete the Picture Consulting, the official research partner for the 2013 AMPLI report, said, “Mobile retail was the special topic for this year’s report. For this, we looked at how Australians used their mobile phones for online shopping and how this affected in-store retailing.”

“The ease with which mobile phone users can now buy everything from shoes to books and even consumer electronics on mobile phones is increasingly affecting in-store purchasing. Within a handful of clicks, the purchase is complete. It’s evident that the mobile phone is not only a platform for making the actual purchase, but is also important for many consumers in aiding their purchase decisions.”

“The AMPLI report is an invaluable industry resource which provides independent insights into the trends and habits of Australian mobile phone users,” said David Holmes, CEO for AIMIA. “A new area the report explored this year was wearable technology. There has been a lot of hype around devices such as Google Glasses and Nike Fuel Band over the last year and I’m excited to see how these devices will interact and affect the use of mobile phones in the future.”

Impact on in-store Purchasing and Purchasing-Decisions

The solid growth in smartphone use across the Australian population correlates with an increase in online shopping. The results show almost 30 per cent of respondents decreased their in-store purchasing since they started buying on their mobile phones. Almost 40 per cent of respondents currently using the mobile phone for purchasing believe the number of purchases they make on their phone will increase in the next six months. Only 5 per cent of respondents said they think their purchases will decrease, with just over half believing their number of purchases will remain the same.

The research also shows how the mobile phone is increasingly playing a role in purchase decisions. The purchase may then end up being made on the phone or in-store, however the two behaviours relating to the role of the mobile in the purchase decision were explored in this survey, namely the use of the mobile phone:

To compare prices online before making a purchase

To look at product or service reviews before making a purchase decision

The overall pattern of use and frequency of use for both behaviours relating to the use of the mobile phone in the purchase decision are very similar. Just over 60 per cent of respondents used the mobile phone to compare prices online (64 per cent) and look at product or service reviews (67 per cent) before making a purchase decision in the last 12 months.

Digital Content Leads Mobile Phone Purchases

At 65 per cent, buying digital content for mobile phones was the leading type of purchase, including ringtones, music, video clips, apps or games. This was followed by 53 per cent of respondents purchasing tickets, such as movie or plane tickets, and books at 34 per cent. The research also shows that 32 per cent of respondents use their mobile phone to purchase clothes, shoes and jewellery while 19 per cent use their device for consumer electronics and 12 per cent for services such as insurance and gardening.

Application Use Continues to Increase

Eighty two per cent of respondents indicate they have downloaded and installed an application to their mobile phone. Since 2012 respondents have been asked to report the average number of applications they used per week. This year’s research shows a clear shift from the use of five or less applications per week, towards the use of six or more applications per week. The 2013 results showed that 49 per cent of respondents used 5 or less applications per week, compared to 60 per cent in 2012, and that 50 per cent of respondents used 6 or more apps per week, compared to 36 per cent in 2012.

The most popular types of applications used by respondents in the last six months were:

Maps and navigation (80 per cent)

News and weather (72 per cent)

Games (64 per cent)

Photos, videos and movies (61 per cent)

Instant Messaging and Social Networking (52 per cent)

Music (48 per cent)

The percentage of respondents using a particular type of application has increased for some of the applications over the last few years. Those types of applications that have experienced at least 5 per cent growth in the last year include:

Instant Messenger and Social Networking (27 per cent to 52 per cent)

Photos, Videos and Movies (56 per cent to 61 per cent)

Health and Wellbeing (23 per cent to 28 per cent)

Maps and Navigation (74 per cent to 80 per cent)

Also of note is the downward trend over the last few years in the percentage of respondents using game applications. This is likely to be a reflection of the increasing range of applications types now available to mobile phone users, coupled with the increasing use of applications to enhance day-to-day living and wellbeing, as opposed to using applications solely for entertainment.

Of those respondents who had downloaded and installed applications on their mobile phones, 62 per cent stated they had paid to do so. This figure has increased gradually over the last few years, as follows.

2010 Survey – 52 per cent

2011 Survey – 60 per cent

2012 Survey – 59 per cent

2013 Survey – 62 per cent

‘Games’ remains the most commonly paid for type of application. As in previous years, this is not surprising as games tend to be more transient in terms of use, compared to other types of applications (e.g., a person using social network applications is likely to continue to use a single or limited number of applications, while a person using a game may change the type of game played frequently). However, the percentage of respondents paying for ‘games’ has decreased since 2012, while the proportion of respondents paying for some of the other potentially transient type applications has increased (e.g. ‘books’ and ‘photos, videos and movies’).

Impact of Tablets on Mobile Phone Use

Apple iPads clearly remain the most popular brand of tablets with 68 per cent of respondents who owned tablets reporting that they owned an iPad. However, there has been a decrease in the percentage of respondent
s owning an Apple iPad. The decrease was offset by an increase in the ownership of other brands, and in particular, the Samsung brand of tablets.

56 per cent of respondents report they own a tablet, representing a substantial increase from last year’s figure of 38 per cent.

An additional 19 per cent of 2013 Survey respondents were planning to purchase a tablet within the next 12 months.

Based on these results, the indicative forecast for tablet ownership is approximately 63 per cent by February 2014 and 76 per cent by August 2014.

The most frequent uses of the tablet in the last 12 months were:

To visit websites and/or browse or search the internet (98 per cent of all tablet owners)

To get information (96 per cent of all tablet owners)

For entertainment purposes (92 per cent of all tablet owners)

Sending and receiving emails (88 per cent of all tablet owners)

Almost all tablet owners (99 per cent) are using websites and/or applications compared to 87 per cent of mobile phone users, suggesting that there are some differences in how these devices are used. Of particular interest is that websites are just as popular as, if not more than, applications among tablet owners. Only:

1 per cent use applications only on tablets, compared to 4 per cent on mobile phones

15 per cent use ‘mostly applications and some websites’ on tablets, compared to 25 per cent on mobile phones.

The survey also explores the impact of the tablet on different aspects of mobile phone use. In summary, while there is some impact of tablet purchase affecting mobile phone use (either increasing or decreasing) the percentage of respondents whose phone use is unaffected (stayed the same) by the purchase of a tablet has increased. This suggests that mobile phones and tablets may eventually become complementary devices for the type of uses listed.

Smartphone ownership steadily increases

Unsurprisingly, there has been a further increase in the percentage of respondents who own a smartphone. Eighty eight per cent of all respondents owned a smartphone, up from 76 per cent in 2012 and 67 per cent in 2011. This is only slightly higher than the forecasted figure from last year’s survey. Based on the 2012 survey results, it was estimated that 84 per cent of the population represented in the survey would own a smartphone by mid-2013.

Of those respondents who do not own a smartphone, 42 per cent plan to purchase one in the next 6 to 12 months. Based on the survey results, 90 per cent of respondents would own a smartphone by February 2014 and 93 per cent would own a smartphone by mid-2014.

It is important to keep in mind that the figure reported in this publication is a reflection of smartphone ownership among 18 to 75 year olds, and the generalisability of the result does not extend to older or younger Australians.

The results show a clear and steady increase in the popularity of Apple handsets over the last four years, although Samsung had a more significant increase in uptake compared to Apple over the last year. In 2013, 28 per cent of respondents own a Samsung mobile phone, up from 18 per cent in 2012. Apple ownership only increased by 5 per cent from 40 per cent in 2012 to 45 per cent in 2013. Nokia has experienced a decline in ownership with a decrease of 7 per cent from 16 per cent to 9 per cent.

Carrier Satisfaction

The 2013 results have remained at a fairly similar level to last year. There were, however, some interesting trends to note:

“Overall satisfaction” with carrier services increased slightly in 2013 compared to the last few years; 81 per cent in 2013 compared to 76 per cent in 2011

The percentage of respondents satisfied with ‘Network coverage’, ‘cost of voice calls’ and ‘overall satisfaction’, is trending upwards, with small increases being recorded year-on-year since 2011

The percentage of respondents satisfied with ‘Range of plans and packages available,’ variety of mobile handsets available’ and ‘content and services available via their phone company’s portal’ is trending downwards, with small decreases being recorded year-on-year since 2011

Satisfaction with Virgin was higher for many services compared to other carriers. However, this year’s results show variation in satisfaction across the carriers when it came to specific services.

For example:

Satisfaction with Virgin was considerably higher for many services including for the range of plans and packages available, the cost of accessing a data service and customer service

Satisfaction with Telstra’s network coverage was yet again an obvious standout for the carrier when compared to the other providers

Vodafone experienced substantially lower levels of satisfaction compared to the other carriers for all services especially overall satisfaction, customer service, variety of handsets, network coverage and content and services available via the carrier’s portal. These results are most likely an outcome of the ongoing network issues the carrier has experienced

About the AMPLI Report

The AMPLI report is a collaborative industry research project carried out by the Mobile Industry Group (MIG), a special interest group of AIMIA. The report is authored by official research partner Complete the Picture Consulting. The official 2013 gold sponsors of the AMPLI report are Deloitte Digital and Telstra. The official silver sponsor is the Mobile and App Design Awards. Supporters of the 2013 survey are Mobile Experience and geoTribes. The survey was also promoted and hosted by Optus, Appsnack, Virgin Mobile as well as key AIMIA sponsors mentioned above.