Swiss increasingly store via smartphone

For the investigation, about which the SonntagsZeitung reported in its current issue, the Swiss online retail market leader Digitec Galaxus analyzed over one million customer data. The results are clear: the computer is losing importance as a shopping tool, while the smartphone is steadily gaining in importance.

While 99% of customers still made purchases via computer in 2014, 25% now do so via cell phone. In French-speaking Switzerland, the figure is as high as 40%. With a share of 26%, German-speaking Swiss shoppers are in line with the smartphone average, while people in Ticino are still rather reluctant to make mobile purchases (16%).

The data also shows that women in particular like to shop via smartphone - they do so more than 50 percent more often than men. Digitec Galaxus explains this difference by the fact that men are more likely to be employed and often store on their desktop computers at work. Shopping during working hours seems to be a popular activity for both men and women in Switzerland: from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., the online retailer records significantly more orders via computer than outside of working hours. The smartphone, on the other hand, appears to be a leisure-time shopping tool - orders on these devices peak during lunch breaks and at the weekend.

While computers are still ahead in terms of purchases, the situation is different when it comes to page views in 2019: For the first time, more people are visiting Digitec Galaxus stores via smartphone than via a stationary computer.