British telecom operator EE says 4G LTE services will be driving online shopping during Christmas this year.
According to 4GEE Mobile Living Index, which combines statistics from EE’s 4G mobile network with a survey of 4GEE customers, 39 percent of 4GEE users plan to Christmas shop on a smartphone or tablet this year against 15 percent last Christmas.
Fashion, entertainment, electronics and books are the most popular purchases, with a third of mobile shoppers spending more than £100 a month, said EE in a statement. eBay and Amazon are the most popular online shopping destinations.
The daily commute (8.30am and 5.30pm) is the most popular time for shopping on mobile devices.
Retailers with quality mobile apps and websites optimized for mobile users are set to be the big winners.
The 4GEE Mobile Living Index says spend is also steadily increasing: of the men that shop on mobile, over one third (35 percent) say they spent more than £100 in the last month alone and a fifth spent more than £200. 15 percent of women spent more than £200, almost double the figure from July’s report.
24 percent uses social media at least ten times per day and 36 percent are streaming more video than they did on 3G, with large peaks in traffic during key events such as on Halloween and live football matches
Network analysis reveals 4GEE customers use 28 percent more data on social media than 3G users, with Facebook, YouTube and Instagram using the most data over 4GEE.
Music streaming services are benefitting from 4G. Deezer (13th) and Spotify (20th) appear in the top 20 most popular applications on 4G, but neither make the top 20 over 3G.
Web browsing and email (40 percent), video (22 percent), social media (18 percent) and music (8 percent) are top of the list in terms of 4G traffic.
Top five applications in terms of volume of 4GEE data are: web browsers, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and video calls.
80 percent of 4GEE customers haven’t used a phone box for five or more years
A quarter of all 4GEE customers – and nearly half (44 percent) of 18-24 year old customers – have never stepped inside a phone box.
18 percent have never used a home telephone as people become ever more reliant on their mobiles for voice calls, as well as data.
More than 1.2 million people are now enjoying 4GEE, almost double the number of 4G customers since August 2013 (687,000).
Nearly a third of 4GEE users are now over 45 (vs. 25 percent at launch)
Male to female split remains stable: 42 percent of 4GEE customers women, while 65 percent consumers say they now use their personal devices to work on the move.
