Study Shows More Hispanic Shoppers Use Mobile Devices as a Shopping Tool Than General Market Shoppers

U.S. smartphone penetration is approximately 57 percent so it's no surprise that consumers are using their phones to assist with shopping needs. What's interesting is 16 percent of Hispanic shoppers are using their mobile device to make purchases compared to 12 percent of general market shoppers. This was revealed in the latest issue of The Checkout, an ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research. "Since mobile and online tools are important to Hispanics, there is opportunity to leverage technology to better engage this audience. It's not just about replicating general market strategies and making them bilingual, it's taking those key elements that Hispanic shoppers seek and incorporating them into the shopper experience," said Martin Ferro, senior account planner for Velocidad, a Hispanic promotional, retail and shopper marketing capability of The Integer Group. Use of private label has grown significantly in recent years as shoppers start to perceive them as quality alternatives to name brand products. Only 28 percent of Hispanic shoppers (compared to 22 percent of general market shoppers) say they immediately go for name brand items while 68 percent (compared to 60 percent of general market shoppers) find their usual brand but then consider a store brand as an alternative. The study also shows that private label is making it into Hispanics' consideration sets, with 78 percent of all Hispanic shoppers regularly comparing prices between name brands and store brands. Although this is the case, there are some product categories where Hispanics remain very brand loyal, this includes laundry detergent, health and beauty products, and breakfast cereals. Additional findings on Hispanic shoppers from The Checkout: