18-34 year olds open to mobile as part of cross-channel commerce

Ecommerce business ATG has released a consumer report on cross-channel marketing and there’s some encouraging news for mobile in there, particularly if you’re aiming at a young(ish) audience.

ATG asked over a 1000 US consumers how they purchased goods, what part the different channels (mobile, store, mobile etc ) played in those purchases, and how they thought they would change in the future.

According to the report mobile is still a relatively unused channel when it comes to mobile commerce, however when it comes to research it’s an extremely useful tool with nearly a third of consumers using their mobile devices to browse or research products and services at least periodically, while 13% are using them to make purchases.

But when the research is spilt into different age groups the importance of mobile commerce rises, especially with the younger audiences. The 18-34 age group is particularly interested in using their mobile devices to browse and research products and services, and confirms that young mobile users are using mobiles in store to access more information about a product, such as ratings and reviews. Additionally around 32% use their mobile devices to browse or research monthly, and 15% are completing transactions with their mobile devices monthly.

Other findings include:

• Though 27% of all consumers 18 and older use their mobile devices to browse or research products and services at least four times a year, that number jumps to 41% for the 18-34 year-old age group
• Similarly, 20% of all consumers surveyed are using their mobile devices to browse or research products and services at least once a month, whereas 32% of the 18-34 year olds are doing this monthly and 21% of them are doing it on a weekly basis
• When it comes to making purchases, 13% of all consumers 18 and older are doing this on their mobile devices at least four times a year
• Again, the 18-34 age group shows a greater proclivity for their use of mobile devices for commerce, with 23% making purchases on their mobile devices at least four times a year, 15% doing this monthly and 8% doing it weekly

Lastly ATG confirms what we’ve been telling everyone for years ie that the mobile market is maturing rapidly and at “a much faster pace than the Web originally matured” and recommends that merchants should “seize this opportunity now to stay ahead of the competition.” Music to our ears.