Commuters account for 14% of UK online spending – research
A new report into commuters’ spending habits reckons they drop £23 billion per year of stuff via their mobile devices while on the move.
The research was conducted by media agency Kinetic and media owner Exterion, who both apparently specialise in OOH. Disappointingly this doesn’t mean they spend all their time exclaiming in amazement at stuff. Instead OOH stands for out-of-home and refers to the kind of advertising you get hit with when, you guessed it, you’re away from your house.
Across the whole country commuters apparently blow £89 per week on their phones one average, which seems remarkably high. London commuters spend £153 per week, we’re told which is bordering on mania and we can only assume this average is skewed by city types buying Lamborghinis on their phones or something. Across the board clothes seem to be the most popular purchase, which tallies with another recent report on this sort of thing.
“Our research shows that in today’s age of time-poor consumers, the everyday commute is fast becoming a valuable opportunity to make purchases,” said Stuart Taylor, CEO of Kinetic. “At a time when footfall is declining on our high streets, these findings confirm that retailers can nevertheless reach a valuable urban audience in a physical environment.”
“Commuters are the lifeblood of the UK, and hugely important to the economy, businesses and advertisers; they keep our nation moving and growing, as they travel,” said Nigel Clarkson, Chief Revenue Officer at Exterion. “Our research proves the commercial impact of the Commuter Economy, through the billions contributed to online retail annually.”
Both of them banged on about OOH advertising but laboured the point far too much for us to burden you with their unvarnished propaganda. That doesn’t mean they’re wrong, however. It stands to reason that people would use the dead time taken up by commuting to get other stuff done and it’s worryingly easy to buy stuff on your phone these days.
