• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, October 21, 2014

According to new research from Contact Solutions, 30% of shoppers chose physical stores for less than half of their everyday shopping, while 52% do more than half their online shopping with online retailers, and 30% shop on mobile at least as much as they do on a computer.

Consumers are shifting a significant portion of their purchases from retail stores to the web at an ever- increasing pace. According to Forrester Research, U.S. online sales will top $400 billion in 2018, and nearly $1 trillion worldwide, says the report.

Consumers have high expectations for retail care when shopping via a mobile device, says the report, and if those expectations aren’t met, 71% say they’ll abandon the experience entirely. But 75% of shoppers say the ability to get “customer care” impacts their shopping experience, says the report.

However, 55% of respondents struggle at least 20% of the time when using a mobile app to shop. Separately, 43% say they have come to expect no customer service at all from mobile apps.

In fact, 77% will be more likely to return to the app, and 95% say “great customer experience” will make them more likely to do business again. The study found that 92% of shoppers say it would be helpful to have customer care automatically provided within an app to help complete a task.

Consumers have less time, are more price conscious, and have access to more information than ever before, and that’s changing buying behavior, says the report. As a result, consumers are shifting a healthy portion of their online purchases from the web to smartphones and tablets. Mobile shopping has arrived.

Some key findings from the study include:

• 3 out of 4 shoppers shop online, and 30% of shoppers shop on a mobile device at least as much as they shop on a computer
• 1 out of 10 shoppers already prefer mobile apps exclusively for their online shopping
• 16% consumers say they struggle with mobile shopping apps at least half the time, and 38% of respondents said they are disappointed with the inability to get help within a mobile app
• 51% abandon the cart and close the app (lost purchase) when they struggle in a retail app, and 20% stop using the app entirely
• 55% of consumers say they struggle at least once every five visits

John Hibel, Director of Marketing, Contact Solutions,says “… customers using apps more frequently for shopping… when they encounter problems… cannot get the help they need… results are disastrous for retailers…

For more information from Contact Solutions, please visit here.