Eighty per cent of people research business products or services on a tablet while the majority (93 per cent) go on to purchase the product via a laptop or desktop, according to new research by IDG Global Solutions (IGS).
The survey conducted among more than 23,500 executives and consumers across 43 countries revealed that fifty per cent of executives have purchased IT products for business using their smartphone with 13 per cent reporting making a purchase between £600 to £2999.
However, security concerns (45 per cent) and having a website not mobile enabled (43 per cent) were the most common reasons for this audience not to purchase a product via smartphone. Like mainstream consumers, senior executives want an omni-channel purchase environment to seamlessly move between devices to make purchases.
Meanwhile, 75 per cent of respondents are using smartphones, and 87 per cent tablets, to watch online video. Millennials and C-Suite executives are near equal consumers of tablet video with 92 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds while 91 per cent of senior executive watching video on their tablet.
Tablet ownership has grown among survey respondents rising from 20 per cent in 2011 to 61 per cent in 2014.
Christina Carstensen of IDG Global Solutions said: “The ‘mobile evolution’ is having a profound effect on consumers and businesses. It has kick-started the always-on culture, presenting brands with unprecedented opportunities to develop closer relationships with their customers. We have moved beyond media convergence to a convergence of technology and humans, and brands more than ever need to show their human side to communicate in a relevant, engaging and intuitive way.”
