18% of mobile users surveyed in Q4 2011 reported having scanned a QR code in the past 90 days, according to [download page] a JiWire report released in February 2012. Among mobile shopping activities, this was on par with the proportion who had redeemed a mobile coupon, though was less than the percentage who had redeemed an online (34%) or newspaper (22%) coupon. The QR code usage rate represented 53% of the mobile users who knew that their mobile device had a QR scanner. In fact, 33% of users said they did not know if their device had a QR scanner.
11% of mobile consumers reported having used a mobile payment system such as Google Wallet.
1 in 3 Comparison Shop In-Store
34% of mobile consumers in Q4 2011 said they have comparison shopped in-store with their mobile device, while 27% have searched for reviews, 21% have searched for coupons, and 12% have purchased on their mobile phone instead of the store. Consumers aged 25-34 were the most likely to have comparison shopped in-store (39%), almost 40% more likely to do so than consumers aged under 24 (28%). However, those under 24 were the most likely to have purchased on their mobile phone rather than from the store (15%), slightly ahead of 35-44-year-olds (14%) and 25-34-year-olds (13%).
According to a survey released by Google in February 2012, three-quarters of smartphone shoppers used their device in a store during the holiday season to help them shop. The tendency to comparison shop in-store and purchase on mobile devices (“showrooming”) appears to have significant ramifications for brick-and-mortar retailers: according to January 2012 survey results from Pew, when asked what happened on the most recent occasion they used their mobile phone to look up the price online of a product they found in a store, only 35% of respondents said they purchased the product at that store. 37% said they decided to not purchase the product at all, while 19% purchased the product online and 8% purchased the product at another store.
80% Favor Locally Relevant Ads
Meanwhile, data from the “JiWire Mobile Audience Insights Report Q4 2011” indicates that 80% of mobile consumers prefer ads that are locally relevant to them, and three-quarters of consumers have taken action in response to a location-specific message. The top 3 actions taken are clicking on a location-specific ad (31%), searching for the nearest location (21%), and conduction additional research (21%). Smartphone owners in general show higher response rates than their non-smartphone-owning counterparts.
Responses also differed by smartphone device type: Blackberry users (21%) were more likely than iPhone and Android users (both at 19%) to make a purchase. Android users (25%) were far more likely than Blackberry or iPhone users (both at 17%) to search for the nearest location, and iPhone users were the most likely to click on an ad (34%), though by just a slight margin.
Other Findings:
- In the US, laptops still represent the majority of WiFi connections, at 56%. Smartphones (32.8%) and tablets (11.2%) make up the remainder.
- The number of worldwide public WiFi locations grew 5.4% from Q3 to Q4, reaching 682,929, also representing 64.8% year-over-year growth. Total public WiFi locations have more than doubled since 2009.
- The UK again boasted the most number of WiFi locations in Q4, with 181,697, virtually unchanged from Q3. The US ranked second with 110,332 (up 5.8%), extending its lead over China, with 103,770 (up 1.5%).
- Free locations in the US increased from 76.2% in Q3 to 77.1% in Q4, while total free locations worldwide showed a slight decrease from 22.4% to 22.3%.
- One-quarter of the on-the-go audience plans to purchase a car in the next year. 4 in 5 mobile consumers reported responding to an advertising message: 30% visited the website; 23% clicked on the ad; 13% scheduled an appointment; and 12% went directly to the dealer.
- In terms of mobile services that would most help with an auto-buying decision, 27% chose viewing product specs, while 23% voted for find a dealer and check availability of make or model. Women were the most likely to cite location-based tools, while men were more interested in reviewing product specs.
About the Data: JiWire’s Mobile Audience Insights Report is based on data from approximately 315,000 public WiFi locations, as well as surveying more than 5,000 US customers randomly selected across JiWire’s WiFi Media Channel from October 2011 to December 2011. JiWire serves advertisements to over 30,000 public Wi-Fi locations in North America and records data from every ad request. Quarterly public WiFi location rankings and business model distributions are based on the final day of the quarter.
