Brands need to make online mobile shopping easier: Facebook

Although young shoppers are increasingly buying smartphones online, they believe brands can further improve this by providing a seamless experience across a variety of channels on the path to purchase, a new Facebook study has revealed.

Shoppers are increasingly turning to mobiles for research, comparing prices and even making their final purchase.

"Indeed, 45 percent of all shopping journeys today contain mobile. And for Millennials, this number jumps to 57 percent. Almost half of Millennials expect to buy more on their smartphone in the year ahead," said Facebook IQ which commissioned market research firm GfK to conduct the study involving more than 2,400 "omni-channel shoppers."

"Omni-channel shoppers" consider the internet to be an important source of inspiration when it comes to discovering new products and browsing a wider range of brands including smartphones and tablets.

"While 56 percent say they have made a purchase on a mobile device because they were already using it, 55 percent say they use mobile because they can do it anywhere, anytime," the findings showed.

Meanwhile, 60 percent of "omni-channel shoppers" say they will either start purchasing or purchase more on their smartphones in 2016 and 64 percent anticipate doing more shopping research on their smartphones.

"There is an opportunity for brands to ease the browsing and buying experience and rekindle the magic of being in-store - on mobile," the study noted.

Some "omni-channel shoppers" cite finding it easier to use larger screens as a reason they prefer buying on desktop or laptop over buying on mobile.

Some prefer to shop at a physical store because they enjoy the overall experience and like to be able to touch items they are considering purchasing.

"While some say they don't want to wait for shipping or pay for the shipping costs often associated with buying things online," the researchers added.

Seventy percent of mobile shoppers say the website/app experience can be improved and 71 percent feel the transaction experience can be improved.

"Brands that want to reach these consumers will focus on eliminating the barriers that stop people from buying on mobile, like by making it easy to enter payment information, offering multiple shipping options and allowing consumers to complete a transaction without downloading an app," the findings showed.