More than 62 percent of Taiwanese Internet users have made purchases using mobile devices, a survey published by the Institute for Information Industry (III, 資策會) showed.
The survey on mobile shopping by the institute’s Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) showed that 62.5 percent of respondents in Taiwan had gone shopping using their cellphones or other devices, compared with 32.1 who said they had not made purchases, but had used their mobile devices for virtual window shopping.
Only 5.4 percent said they neither shop nor browse on their mobile devices.
BETTER PRICING
On positive factors that draw people to mobile shopping, respondents listed the fun of being able to shop any time, any place (45.9 percent); the convenience of a simple check-out process (41.2 percent); and lower prices through dedicated vendor apps compared with regular online shopping (39 percent).
Rounding out the top five reasons to go mobile were promotional activities and limited-quantity sales (30.4 percent) and complementary freebies (27.8 percent).
MIC analyst Chang Hsiao-chi (張筱祺) said that consumers benefit from the flexibility offered by buying through mobile devices.
“Instant gratification is the major factor behind the development of mobile shopping,” Chang said.
DRAWBACKS
However, there are also drawbacks to shopping on the go.
The five top negative factors listed were the inconvenience of virtual browsing (52 percent), worries about transaction security (51.1 percent), small screens on mobile devices (48.4 percent), not wanting to divulge personal information (24.4 percent) and unstable connection quality (23.5 percent).
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