Mobile retail searches soar 216% in the second quarter

The number of searches on smart phones and tablets more than trebled year-on-year.

Total retail searches were up 27% according to the BRC-Google Online Retail Monitor with pureplay retailers driving the growth. Searches for online only retailers were up 21% compared to 14% for multichannel players.

The top searched for items included the iPad2, iPhone 5 and Kindle. In clothing, wedding dresses ranked high as wedding season began in the quarter.

The number of overseas consumers searching for UK retailers grew by 34% year-on-year in the second quarter. Conversely, the volume of people from the UK searching for international retailers soared 76%.

Londoners were leading the online boom, with 36% of total searches coming from the region.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: “While the retail sector as a whole is going through a difficult period, the boom in online retail continues. The star performer is mobile. Consumers are always looking for more convenient ways to shop. Retailers are making m-commerce easier all the time by offering mobile optimised websites, apps and transactional mobile platforms.”

Google retail director Peter Fitzgerald said: “Q2 was an interesting quarter for retail searches online. Volumes were down in April as the warm weather and bank holidays took their toll, but picked up again in May with the return of cooler weather. However, mobile searches remained constant throughout the quarter, largely unaffected by the changing temperatures. This is unsurprising given the ‘always on’ nature of mobile users.”