A survey shows that 15% of Americans have now used their mobile phones to make a purchase.

The survey from Sterling Commerce and Demandware questioned 3,600 US consumers and found that 96.2% owned a mobile phone, with just under half having a smartphone, which are usually optimised for online shopping.

The survey found:

• More than 60% believe that being able to use their mobile phone while shopping to verify product availability at a particular store location is "important" to "very important"
• Nearly a quarter of shoppers use their phone while in a store to competitively price shop an item
• Approximately 20% of consumers currently use their phones to create shopping lists or baskets, and slightly more than that number would be interested in a mobile app to help with shopping list or "basket management" for their favourite retailers
• Two thirds are interested in the possibility of using their mobile phone to scan and purchase items, thus enabling them to bypass checkout lines
• A quarter of shoppers believe that receiving specials/promotions (such as coupons) would be an important use for their mobile phone when shopping, although they were less enthusiastic about receiving advertising via their phones