Millennials to lead mobile Christmas shopping spree [INFOGRAPHIC]

It’s going to be a digital Christmas, with 42% of all consumers (and 60% of millennials) planning to do more Christmas shopping on their smartphone or tablet this year than last year, according to a new survey.

The survey of 5,110 consumers, was commissioned by Dynatrace and conducted by Harris Poll during October 2015.

The survey indicates that mobile and tablet shopping will break records again this year, with more consumers than ever – and millennials (those aged 18-34) in particular –turning to digital channels over bricks-and-mortar stores for their Christmas shopping spree.

However, their expectations have also rocketed, putting retailers under even more pressure than ever to keep up. The figures show that shoppers will be even more unforgiving of those that miss the mark this year. As such, any repeat of last year’s epidemic of Black Friday website outages is likely to cause lasting damage for retailers that could dampen their Christmas spirit considerably.

Key findings of the survey of smartphone/tablet users revealed:

· It’s going to be a digital Christmas:

o 42% of all consumers (60% of millennials) plan to do more Christmas shopping on their smartphone or tablet this year than last year

o 50% of millennials (60% in the UK) will do more shopping on their smartphone/tablet than they will in-store this year

· They’re still online – even whilst in-store:

o Over a quarter (27%) of respondents (37% of millennials) said they will make purchases on their devices whilst they are in-store

o 62% of millennials will use their devices to compare prices, check reviews and download discount vouchers whilst shopping in-store

· Take the strain or feel the pain:

o Three-quarters of all smartphone/tablet users (81% of millennials) will abandon a slow or buggy app and go elsewhere

o Nearly half (47%) of all respondents said they will only wait three seconds for a mobile site or app to load before deciding to shop elsewhere

o Nearly a third (32%) of shoppers will not use a mobile site or app again if it fails to work the first time

o Over half (51%) of millennials say they are likely to complain about poor online shopping experiences on social media, spreading the word of retailers’ failures amongst other prospective shoppers

The survey was conducted by Harris Poll during October 2015 and included 1,025 respondents from the UK, 2,009 respondents from the USA, 1,090 from France, 1,071 from Germany and 1,135 from Australia.

“Mobile shopping will shatter records again this year, and the price retailers will pay for poor digital experiences will also be historic. We can see the future of retail by looking at what mobile shoppers ages 18 to 34 are doing now. They are demanding flawless customer experiences and are quick to be disappointed and complain on social media,” said Erwan Paccard, Director of Omnichannel Strategy at Dynatrace. “This ‘Back to the Future’ trend led by Millennials has changed retail forever. Today, companies will win or fail based on their ability to deliver great customer experiences at every digital touchpoint along the shopping journey.”

Millennials are mobile, social and expect higher customer experience quality than previous generations. Their demands for digital excellence show what the future holds and puts significant pressure on retailers to adapt.

Key findings from Dynatrace’s 2015 Mobile Holiday Shopping Survey include:

· Smartphone and tablet shopping will be a dominant factor across web, mobile web and mobile applications in 2015:

o 60% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users and 42% of all smartphone/tablet users are planning to use their smartphones and/or tablets to do more holiday shopping this year than last, which already reached historic levels.

o Millennial smartphone/tablet users are shifting into overdrive, as 50% will do more holiday shopping on their smartphones and/or tablets than they will by making in store purchases.

o If you are a retailer in the U.K., watch out, because 60% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users will buy more using their devices than buying in brick and mortar stores.

· In-Store Shopping is Now also Digital Shopping:

o More than 1 in every 4 smartphone/tablet users (27%) and nearly 4 of every 10 Millennial smartphone and/or tablet users (37%) will use their devices to make purchases when they are in stores shopping for gifts.

o 62% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users will use their smartphones and/or tablets when they are in physical stores shopping for gifts to compare prices, read product reviews and download coupons.

o Millennial smartphone/tablet users in the U.S. are leading the charge here, with 71% marching into stores with their devices on and ready to compare prices, read product reviews and download coupons when shopping for gifts.

· The Price of Poor Digital Performance… Substantial Revenue Losses:

o 75% of all smartphone/tablet users and 81% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users report that if a mobile site or mobile app is buggy, slow or prone to crashes they would abandon it and shop elsewhere.

o Millennial smartphone/tablet users in Germany showed the least forgiveness, with 87% saying they would abandon a buggy app and shop elsewhere.

o 49% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users and 47% of all adults using smartphones and/or tablets say they would shop elsewhere if a mobile site or app fails to load in 3 seconds or less.

o 68% of smartphone/tablet users say they would try a mobile site or app one more time if it did not work the first time – an immediate loss of 32% of shoppers.

· Retailer Reputations Will Be Damaged:

o In today’s digital world, your apps are your brands – and if they deliver poor experiences, the world will hear about it and brand and customer loyalty will suffer, as 51% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users say they are likely to complain on social media about a poor online shopping experience.

o Australian Millennial smartphone/tablet users are leading here, with 59% likely to complain about a poor online shopping experience on social media.

· Led by Millennials, Mobile Apps Now an Important Part of Omnichannel Strategies:

o 54% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users prefer to use company-specific mobile applications downloaded from an app store rather than company websites when shopping on smartphones and/or tablets.

o Why this preference? 62% of Millennial smartphone/tablet users say that company-specific mobile applications have better user experience and performance than a company website.

o UK Millennial smartphone/tablet users also led in this category, with 71% feeling that company-specific mobile apps have better user experience and performance than company websites.

The digital revolution is affecting all industries, but is impacting highly competitive market segments like retail at an accelerated pace. Customers’ behaviors and expectations are changing more quickly than most businesses can adapt, putting them at risk,” explained Paccard. “However, with digital performance management, dev, IT ops and business teams can get needed analytics and technical context to better collaborate and focus on delivering user experiences that maximize success.”

Download the 2015 Mobile Holiday Shopping Survey report here

SURVEY METHODOLOGY

This survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Dynatrace from October 13-15, 2015 among adults ages 18 and older within the United States (n=2009), United Kingdom (n=1,025), France (n=1,090), Germany (n=1,071) and Australia (n=1,135). This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated..