Smartphones boost increase in retail searches

The number of international customers searching for UK retailers has increased due to the popularity of smartphones, according to the British Retail Consortium’s Google Online Retail Monitor.

The search volumes on mobile phones increased by 26% in the second quarter of the year compared to last year.

For all devices across the UK, search volumes maintained year on year growth of 7% in the second quarter of 2017.

Estonia showed the most interest in UK retailers, reporting a 77% growth on mobile devices in Q2 2017 compared with the same quarter a year ago.

Helen Dickinson OBE, chief executive of the BRC, said: “The increase in mobile search volumes over this period is consistent with the upward trend in online non-food sales growth.

“One in five pounds are now consistently spent online for non-food purchases at home, while the growth in mobile browsing from the EU demonstrates a stable appetite for UK brands from overseas consumers.”

She added: “Satisfying this interest from abroad through retailers’ digital offer, is crucial to go some way to offsetting the more discretionary spending habits of hard-pressed UK consumers.”