Walmart Takes Largest Share of Mobile Shopping Traffic

In an independent consumer study, 1,000 smartphone and tablet owners were asked about their mobile shopping experiences during the last six months at the top 20 brick-and-mortar retailers.

It's no surprise that Walmart came out on top as the brand most browsed and shopped via mobile devices. Twenty-eight percent of smartphone owners had browsed at Walmart, compared to 32% of tablet owners. Twenty-three percent used their smartphones to make a purchase from Walmart, while 24% used their tablets to transact. Target and Best Buy ranked second and third for smartphone purchasing, while Best Buy and Apple Stores ranked second and third for tablet purchasing.

But where Walmart lead the pack in mobile traffic and transactions, Apple Stores, Best Buy and Kohl's scored the highest for delivering satisfying mobile shopping experiences, followed by Target, Walmart, CVS, Sears, Lowe's and Macy's.

While the study did identify retail's mobile app and site leaders, it also revealed that the top 20 brick-and-mortar retail brands still fall short of consumers' expectations for fast, well-designed and functional mobile apps and web sites.

Among those survey respondents that had unsatisfactory experiences, slow to load apps and mobile web sites were the chief culprit. Half complained that smartphone apps were too slow, and 67% said that tablet apps were also too slow. Additionally, 65% said that smartphone-accessed mobile web sites were slow, compared to 45% who stated the same about tablet-accessed mobile websites. Navigation was an issue for both smartphone and tablet owners: 35 percent said smartphone apps were tough to navigate, compared to 24% of tablet apps. Thirty-two percent said navigation was problematic on smartphone mobile web sites, rising to 39% for tablets. And, for 57% of tablet owners, the checkout process was complicated or did not work at all.

The study also proved that an unsatisfactory mobile shopping experience can directly impact brand loyalty and future revenues: 41% of smartphone owners and 43% of tablet owners claimed that they would be less likely to shop at a retailer if they had a poor experience using their mobile app or mobile web site.

Click here for more findings from this independent consumer study, commissioned by Mobiquity and conducted by Equation Research.