Smartphones drive increases in Google retail searches

Google announced on Thursday that retail related smartphone searches had increased 26% over the second quarter of 2017.

Search volumes across all devices maintained the same level of growth as last year, with a 7% increase.

Beauty was the stand out sector when it came to overseas consumers on mobile devices, with an increase of 42%. Apparel also remained very popular seeing a jump of 38%.

Martijn Bertisen, retail director at Google said that the "unseasonably warm" second quarter was the cause of the increase in consumer searches from their phones whilst out of the house.

The California based search engine said Estonians continued to show a heavy interest in UK retailers, reporting a 77% year on year (YoY) increase.

"Overseas shoppers - from within the EU and beyond - continue to show increasing interest UK brands. In particular beauty and fashion brands are benefiting from an increase in consumer interest. Whilst back at home, we saw a 43% increase YoY in suncare searches as we endeavoured to protect ourselves from the heat," said Bertisen.

British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson also noted that the growth in mobile browsing in the EU demonstrated a "stable appetite for UK brands from overseas consumers. Satisfying this interest from abroad through retailers’ digital offer, is crucial to go some way to offsetting the more discretionary spending habits of hard-pressed UK consumers."

UK retailers seemed to respond to the increase in multiple interactions – both digital and non-digital - that consumers must navigate their way through in order to complete their online shopping journey by increasing presence across digital channels and making serious investments in omnichannel measurement.