Shopping apps are expanding the range of consumer habits and behaviors among Poles

They can increase one-time purchases and influence store choice. They provide time savings through frequent updates of offers and digitized product lists. Specialists predict that in the near future, applications will be a kind of call to action for buyers, encouraging them to make unplanned purchases. Integrating loyalty points and various promotions will influence the popularity of these tools. And scanning receipts may become one of the new consumer habits. It is also predicted that further functionalities will completely change the market. Among them may be m.in. linking applications to social media platforms or customer referral systems.

Influence on decisions

It is estimated that half of all consumers in Poland who use the Internet are so-called. heavy shoppers. Such people do their shopping every day or even several times a day. They also spend a lot of time just preparing to buy various products, e.g.in. By analyzing the promotions of several retail chains. They use new technologies for this purpose, including apps. They create shopping lists in a convenient way. For this type of activity they receive e.g. loyalty cards and attractive discounts.

– The potential of shopping applications is based on m.in. on the fact that they can realistically increase the number of one-time purchases by rewarding loyalty and user login with discount coupons, e.g. in the form of 1+1 free product. Buying more items once, increasing the value of the basket, the consumer receives more attractive prices. This is how it works – says Marcin Lenkiewicz, Vice-President of the Qpony-Blix Mobile Group.

Two key shopping missions of consumers using the Internet are currently observed. These are medium and small complementary purchases. Global trends show that people increasingly want to reduce to a minimum the time spent on everyday errands. And so for example. Convenience chain applications support them to a large extent by very frequent updates of store offers and awarding points for everyday visits and purchases.

– In the future, applications also have a chance to influence the shopping mission of consumers, especially Internet users. One can imagine that more and more often the offers presented in them will become a kind of call to action for the buyer. We still remember the times when customers were able to drive from one end of town to the other to buy bread rolls on sale. A good and properly presented offer on a mobile device can work in the same way and encourage people to visit a given store,” says Piotr Sztabiński, Account Director Retail & Shopper Kantar TNS.

How facilities work?

The functionality connected with special coupons available through the application and promotions sent to a smartphone during shopping is of particular interest to consumers using the Internet. Marcin Lenkiewicz notes that the Polish shopper is able to change his mind about a store if he receives a bigger discount on the same product in another. Discounts offered in a limited way and with a short deadline for taking advantage of them make it possible to buy products not planned before.

– In the future, shopping apps will definitely increase the number of consumers using the Internet to shop beyond the scheduled ones. With the steady growth of interest in this type of solutions, I also expect to see a broadening of Poles’ consumer habits and behaviors. The ease of use of these. The ease of use of these facilities will increase the number of items bought this way – predicts Kamil Michalski, Digital Director Insights Poland Kantar TNS.

An expert from Qpony-Blix Mobile Group points out that applications will improve shopping even before it begins, m.in. thanks to digitalized product lists. Adding loyalty cards and scanning receipts are other conveniences that are also likely to quickly gain popularity among Polish shoppers. They give them additional benefits and convenience in documenting transactions. And of course they influence the consolidation of new shopping habits.

– It is worth mentioning another facilitation which increases the number of consumers who will do more shopping than they planned. Shopping applications perfectly support the location of users. Not only aggregating information about attractive shopping offers, but also integrating loyalty points or various promotions within the software itself will translate into more frequent and wider use of the software for buying products – adds Kamil Michalski.

Barriers and perspectives

On the other hand, it is important to note the barriers to using shopping apps. Some consumers are still reluctant to open accounts and enter their data. Sharing is a very sensitive topic. As Marcin Lenkiewicz emphasizes, two approaches have already passed the test in the Polish market. An aggregator of promotions and newspapers, which does not require registration and logging in, has proven to be an effective method. In a completely different way, e.g. Rossmann’s application strongly encourages to sign up to the Club and share data. According to the expert, consumers do it because in return they receive dedicated and very attractive discounts. And it actually works for everyone.

– With the support of some applications shoppers can implement the currently so popular smart shopping model. Conveniently compare offers and promotions of individual retailers. They check by themselves what is most profitable for them. As the popularity of this type of solution increases, the number of consumers who see an alternative to the leading chains will grow. They will no longer be guided in their purchasing decisions by the marketing message and the price image of retailers, predicts Piotr Sztabiński of Kantar TNS.

It can be expected that new functionalities will be added to shopping apps in the future, which will change the market and consumers’ perception of such amenities. Kamil Michalski believes that this will happen along with growing popularity of technological solutions used by mobile devices users. Already some shopping apps are starting to offer price comparison or consumer geolocation. Soon they may be integrated with social media platforms or a system of recommendations of other buyers. Then probably will come the participation of augmented reality, which has been talked about for a long time.

The above conclusions are based on a study of the potential of shopping applications among Polish consumers using the Internet. The analysis was conducted by Qpony-Blix Mobile Group and Kantar TNS at the end of Q2 of this year. 600 users participated in the online survey. The methodology used was CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing).