Mobile device shopping surged during and post-pandemic says Klarna report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 16, 2022

Some shopping habits that developed during the pandemic have become firmly ingrained in consumers’ shopping behaviour with a new report saying that seven in 10 Britons are shopping more often on their mobile devices than pre-Covid.

Klarna conducted an international study to find out how the pandemic has change the way consumers shop both online and in-store. And after the BNPL giant surveyed over 13,000 consumers in 13 different countries, it found that in the UK, where strict lockdown policies were in place, some 67% now shop via their mobile devices more  often compared to two years ago. 

This is more than in any other country in Europe, especially those that implemented less restrictive measures such as Sweden (54%). 

In the UK, consumers across all generations increased their mobile shopping as a result of the pandemic, from Gen Z (77%) and Millennials (79%) to Gen X (68%) and Baby Boomers (56%). 

And the research also showed that while shoppers are now returning to physical stores, they increasingly seek to combine their online and in-person shopping experience, with 62% using their mobile devices to research products while shopping in-store. 

Consumers have increasingly been doing this kind of research over the past decade or so, but 62% is a particularly high number.

And many consumers now use online shopping tools to make “better informed decisions”, with 90% using their phones to compare prices and look for the best deals or price promotions (94%), while 78% use them to search for shopping inspiration. 

The report also found that shopping apps have become popular in the UK, with 60% of consumers having between one and five shopping apps installed on their devices. 

However, some are becoming increasingly frustrated by too many apps with a huge minority (35%) feeling overwhelmed by the number available and 24% saying they would delete more than half of their existing shopping apps. That's an interesting situation given how much time and money companies have put into app development and means that only the strongest may be able to keep their place on consumers’ phone screens.

Most UK consumers (63%) would prefer to have a single app that incorporates all aspects of their shopping journey, with 79% saying this would simplify their shopping experience.