Aussies are embracing mobile shopping, even buying goods online while inside stores, PayPal reveals

AUSTRALIA’S love affair with smartphone shopping continues to grow. But businesses are missing out on the rewards by failing to do one important thing.

SMARTPHONE screens have become the new shop windows, with new researching revealing an almost 50 per cent spike in Australians buying goods using the small screen.

Australia’s love affair with smartphone shopping is so great most upwardly mobile shoppers indulge at least once a week, one in four prefer to buy goods on their phone than on any other device, and many make phone purchases while standing inside bricks and mortar stores.

But the PayPal mCommerce Index also showed some Australian businesses are missing out on the smartphone shopping boom, with only half ready to accept mobile payments.

Some Australian online shoppers are buying goods on their mobile phones while inside stores. Sarah Coventry, 20, checks out fashion in an Adelaide store. Picture: Tricia Watkinson

Younger mobile shoppers can also be tough to please, with many willing to ditch an online purchase if the website or app is too slow to load.

PayPal Australia managing director Libby Roy said the second annual mobile shopping index showed many Australians continued to buy and pay for goods on mobile devices in large numbers this year, but they were becoming confident enough to make more transactions on pocket-sized gadgets.

“What has really changed is the frequency of mobile commerce,” she said.

“In 2016, smartphone users told us 36 per cent were buying once a week or more and this year that’s up to 48 per cent, so nearly half are participating in m-commerce once a week or more.”

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The fastest growing categories for mobile purchases this year included groceries, clothing, health and beauty, and travel, the report showed, and buyers were not afraid to make purchases whenever the mood struck.

PayPal Australia managing director Libby Roy says mobile purchases are growing in Australia. Picture: Hollie Adams/The Australian

While 76 per cent of Australians bought goods or made payments on a mobile device while relaxing at home, 45 per cent did so while ‘watching’ television, and 34 per cent shopped discreetly at work.

Bizarrely, one in five Australians between 18 and 34 years bought or paid for goods on their smartphone while visiting a physical retail store.

“We have our smartphones with us in all sorts of different situations and that comes through in the research,” Ms Roy said.

“I’ve seen other reports that many people research products before they purchase them in a store.”

Shopper Kate Hayes, at Melbourne’s Chadstone Shopping Centre, often combines online and real store shopping. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Younger smartphone shoppers were much more likely to expect more of their mobile shopping experience, however, and more than half of Generation Z users, aged 18 to 22, would ditch a purchase if it took too long to load or proved difficult, the report showed.

Ms Roy said the findings could be a wake-up call to Australian retailers, as the Index also showed 49 per cent were not “optimised” to accept mobile payments, and 37 per cent had no plans to change.

“This is critical,” she said.

“Obviously those businesses haven’t come to grips with the number of sales they could achieve through mobile optimisation and maybe they have a lack of knowledge about mobile commerce.”

Originally published as Aussies are embracing mobile shopping, even buying goods online while inside stores, PayPal reveals