The explosion of mobile devices that connect anywhere has blurred the line between online and in-store shopping. Shopping behaviors continue to change, as new options are regularly being introduced to consumers. It’s because of these behaviors that Wanderful Media is designing products that easily and seamlessly move through the entire shopping journey from discovery through purchase with a strong focus on mobile.

Wanderful Media recently conducted a survey to look at how mobile and online shopping is impacting the overall shopping experience. The goal of our survey was to gather current data about consumer shopping behavior in stores and online, and to uncover how mobile and online technologies have changed the shopping experience.

Our survey revealed that the Internet is driving consumers into stores. 91 percent of the people surveyed say they have made an in-store purchase based on an online experience. The findings show that a growing integration between online and offline has created a more fluid shopping experience, where consumers move through the process of shopping in a non-traditional way using technology to allow them freedom of location, device and even activities.

Additionally mobile phones and tablets are providing the freedom to discover, research or see what your friends are buying, regardless of where you are and many consumers easily switch between devices depending on the task. Consumers are browsing, discovering new products, reading product reviews, researching a purchase, checking with friends or experts about what to buy, asking the retailer questions about a product, purchasing a product, returning a product, sharing details of a purchase on social media, and so on. An interesting finding was the fact that consumers because of mobile technology now have more time to shop as they are no longer limited to the geographic restrictions of a personal computer. The other surprise is that people still like to go to a retail store. E-commerce is growing but consumers still want a relationship with their local retailer!

Read more here: Technology Blurs The Line Of Online vs. In-Store Shopping