Matt Bullock
12 August 2011
According to a recent study of U.K. consumers by the communications regulator Ofcom, 32 percent of mobile subscribers use their smartphones to access the internet, which is an increase from the 26 percent who answered similarly last year.
Of those smartphone owners surveyed, 46 percent use their devices to access email, 46 percent surf the internet and 40 percent access social networking websites.
"Technology is now driving our values," said Ofcom's director of research and market intelligence James Thickett. "People are looking at smartphones as something that provides for their every technological need."
As more U.K. consumers adopt smartphones, the ecommerce industry stands to benefit. According to a study conducted by Shopping.com, 91 percent of respondents indicated they prefer to shop through online payment gateways than brick-and-mortar stores. The No. 1 reason shoppers said they prefer ecommerce is the pricing, which 81 percent pointed out.
Russ Carroll, managing director of Shopping.com, said more than 10 percent of consumers surveyed used their mobile device to make a purchase online and this figure is expected to grow.
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