• by Aaron Baar , March 10, 2015

Traditional computers such as laptops and desktops are the most prevalent devices for consumers looking to shop online around the world, but the mobile contingent is growing quickly, and has even reached near parity with desktops in the U.K.

According to a survey of 800 consumers in eight global markets (U.S., the U.K., Australia, Canada, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan) by OHT-Mobile (the mobile division of One Hour Translation), traditional computers were used to access online commerce sites by 62% of consumers overall. But mobile cannot be ignored.

In the United States, for instance, 63% of consumers shop online via a traditional computer, compared with 33% who use a mobile device. Other countries such as Canada, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have similar differences, with upwards of 60% accessing via computers and around a third accessing via mobile device.

However, in the U.K., 52% of online shoppers prefer their computers, while 48% use a mobile device. In Japan, meanwhile, 51% of respondents use computers to shop online, and 42% use their mobile devices. 

“We see a big shift among Japanese and U.K. consumers, and a general shift among consumers to mobile commerce,” Ofer Shoshan, CEO of One Hour Translation, tells Marketing Daily. “That trend will be more apparent when we redo this study in a few months.”

Regardless of region, the study demonstrates the importance of optimizing e-commerce sites for mobile access, Shoshan says. Because of some inherent design and operational limitations for mobile commerce, it is important for those developing or redeveloping sites to understand what they want consumers to do while accessing from a mobile device, he says. 

“When people are using mobile devices, you need to simplify your approach,” he says. “The first thing you need to do is differentiate the type of transactions people do from their mobile devices and desktops. Once you make this distinction, you can optimize the mobile view to better serve the customers.”