Study assesses mobile, wearable tech impact on retail

New York -- Thirty percent of consumers either own or plan to buy a wearable device in the next 12 months, and 34% of those consumers want wearable technology to make their lives easier – and that includes shopping. Those are among the findings of a new study by PowerReviews, a ratings and reviews provider.



The study, “Mobile, Wearable Tech and Hyper-Relevance,” analyzes how new technologies are impacting retail. It finds that more than twice as many shoppers are accessing product reviews in-store via retailer’s mobile site (54%) than a retailer’s app (21%).



According to the study, shoppers are most interested in using wearable tech to be reminded of special events (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays) while shopping in-store (28%); be alerted to in-store happenings like long lines in stores (25%). They also want to make seamless, one-click payments (22%) and navigate in-stores with interactive maps (20%).



Compared with the United Kingdom, American consumers are much less open to sharing personal data with retailers. Half of U.K. shoppers were open to sharing information such as fitness metrics, location and purchase history, while only 31% of U.S. consumers were willing to do the same.



The study found that 21% of consumers would be open to being targeted by beacons and other micro-location technologies if it helps them make the right purchase decision, saves them money or helps with their overall shopping experience. In the U.S. this number is likely to grow as retailers can prove the value in delivering hyper-relevant information in real time, according to the study.



In other findings:



• The availability of reviews in-store was exceedingly important for categories with big-ticket, high priced items such as electronics (84%), appliances (68%) and computers (60%). Interestingly, shoppers also wanted reviews accessible in-store for health and beauty and home and garden.



• To access reviews while shopping in-store, the majority of consumers (54%) prefer to visit the store’s website via their mobile phone, while only 21% of shoppers wanted to use in- store displays, like kiosks or tablets in dressing rooms and only 17% wanted to use the retailer’s app.



“With Google’s recent algorithm update favoring mobile optimized websites in mobile searches, it’s clear that mobile-friendly sites are essential not only for driving transactions online, but also for helping in- store shoppers as well,” the report noted.