WIRELESS AND MOBILE NEWS

Compete, a Kantar Media company, released the results of its quarterly Smartphone Intelligence survey showing that smartphone owners are more comfortable buying from their handsets, but that poor mobile site functionality is still a turn-off for many.

Their research does suggest that mobile commerce (m-commerce) is ready to explode in 2010.

Key findings from Compete's Q3 2009 Smartphone Intelligence survey include:

• 37 percent of smartphone owners have purchased something non-mobile with their handset in the past 6 months.
• 19 percent of total smartphone owners have purchased music from their device, 14 percent have purchased books, DVDs, or video games and 12 percent have purchased movie tickets.
• The most popular mobile shopping-related activities are still research related - 41 percent of iPhone users and 43 percent of Android users are most likely to check sale prices at alternative locations from their mobile phones while they are shopping.
• The second most likely activity is accessing consumer reviews, with 39 percent of iPhone owners and 31 percent of Android owners investigating reviews from their handset before they purchase.

Compete's Q3 Smartphone Intelligence survey found that eight percent of smartphone owners that tried to purchase a product on their device were unable to do so. 45 percent of those that abandoned the process reported that they did so because the site would not load, and an additional 38 percent left the site because it was not developed specifically for smartphone users.

"Retailers are beginning to recognize that smartphone use is no longer limited to an exclusive group of tech savvy consumers. As these devices proliferate - and people grow more comfortable transacting, site owners must redesign around mobile shopping ease-of-use. We see this as a win for both consumers and businesses," continued Nohe.

Compete's Smartphone Intelligence combines consumer insights (through surveys) with behavioral data (through online click stream data) to reveal how smartphone owners are using their phones, the sites they visit on the mobile Web and what they like and dislike about their phone and experiences. Smartphone Intelligence subscribers will receive comprehensive quarterly reports with fresh data about smartphone use and behavior, as well as actionable recommendations tailored to their business.

Smartphone Intelligence also enables clients to go deeper with custom research addressing specific business questions relevant to unique segments of smartphones owners. Only Compete can bring in the online behavior of millions of consumers through click stream data to help answer these questions. To learn more, visit: http://compete.com/custom_/telecomSmartphone/.