BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
The British Retail Consortium has revealed that mobile phone browsing now accounts for ten per cent of retail searches online.
As a whole retail search volumes grew 35 per cent in the third quarter this year, though this increase is said to have been driven by a 168 per cent leap in mobile browsing year on year. Mobile searches now account for 10 per cent of online retail searches.
Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium director general, commented: "Mounting pressures on household budgets may be generating more online retail searches as people work harder to compare prices and track down value. While searches grew 35 per cent, their fastest this year, the BRC’s Retail Sales Monitor show growth in online spending has actually slowed to ten per cent, suggesting extra searches are a symptom of bargain hunting.
"Even so, online retailing is still expanding quickly compared with selling through stores and searching from mobile devices is showing the most dramatic increase. Retailers are engaging with and encouraging, this shift in shopping behaviour by providing more and easier ways to search and shop via smartphones and shop via smartphones and tablets."
Halfords is just one retailer in the bike market that has a transaction ready mobile service. Bikes, however, do not feature in the top-ten searched items. Predictably gadgets dominate the top ten, with the iPhone 5, iPad, xBox and HP Touchpad all listed.
