Smartphones & Tablets gaining popularity over PCs for “going online”

According to Nielsen’s The Digital Consumer Report (2014), Americans now own four digital devices on average, and the average U.S. consumer spends 60 hours a week consuming content across devices.

The traditional notion of “going online” often brings to mind images of a desktop or laptop computer and a dedicated high-speed connection. Nonetheless, for many Americans, the reality of the online experience is substantially different. 

A few straight facts:

· Nearly two-thirds (~64 percent  of American adults) own a smartphone, a steep increase  from 35% in the spring of 2011.

· 19% (one-in-five adults) of them are dependent on a smartphone for accessing online services and information and for staying connected to the world around them.

· 10% of Americans own a smartphone but do not have any high speed internet connection at home other than their phone’s data plan.

· 15% own a smartphone but they have fewer options for going online other than their cell phone.

· 7% responded that they do not have broadband access at home, and also have relatively few options for getting online other than their cell phone.
(PEW Research Center, 2014)

On an average, American adults spent 34 hours per month using the mobile internet on smartphones. By comparison, they spend 27 hours on the PC internet (Nielsen’s The Digital Consumer Report , 2014).

B2B decision makers lead the way by using mobile net over the PC conducting research during and after office hours, according to the IDG Global Mobile Survey 2014.

Businesses need to serve target audiences 24/7.

· 92 percent own a smartphone used for business.

· 77 % use their smartphone to research a product or service for their business.

· 93 percent of executives will purchase that product via the Internet using a laptop or desktop.

· 86 percent use their tablet and 72 percent of executives use their smartphone to conduct research for products or services for their business.

According to a recent development at Google, searches will give priority to companies that have mobile-friendly websites when people use the search using their tablet/smartphone. Innovative and updated content have always been prioritised. Furthermore, getting customer feedback is even more tedious and difficult on hand-held devices, that is why businesses should switch to tailor-made strategies to suit their needs. For instance, retailers need to shorten the process starting from searching for a product to the payment gateway for a better customer experience. As Google estimated that half of all searches are conducted from mobile devices, through mobile browsers and its own search apps, mobile websites now not only needs to be richer but shorter and easy to navigate as well that will provide consumers a seamless experience.


Author:  Debaleena Debnath
Debaleena is a digital media consultant @ speradigital.
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