Indians spend more time on mobile Internet than others: Survey

In an attempt to gauge mobile Internet user engagement among its registered users, Mobango conducted a survey recently. An infographic plots the findings of the survey, which was conducted to observe the penetration of mobile internet and app usage. Mobango has shared that the survey was conducted through Survey Monkey targeting four countries -- India, the UK, the US, and Italy. By way of the survey, Mobango intended get a better understanding of mobile internet usage by consumers in Western markets (characterised by higher smartphone penetration and 3G networks), and emerging markets (with feature phone penetration and data networks largely running on EDGE). 

Indians spent more time on mobile Internet than those in the West (Image Credit: Getty Images)

The survey unearthed that Wi-Fi is the preferred mode to access the Internet the world over, with 40 percent of all respondents using Wi-Fi for accessing Internet. 56 percent of all smartphone users surveyed preferred Wi-Fi. It found that smartphone users the world over spent over 20 percent of their Internet time on mobile. The report notes that women in western countries spent more time accessing the Internet on their mobile phones. Almost 55 percent of surveyed women admitted to spending more Internet time on mobile, as compared with 42 percent of surveyed men. 

Indians, it turned out spent more time on mobile Internet, than those in Western countries. They are also likely to pick apps as their preferred mode of mobile engagement. The survey found almost 60 percent Indians spend over 20 percent of their Internet time on mobile. Over 35 percent users in India said they picked apps to search and look for information.

Mobango found that Indians downloaded more apps each month, as compared to those others globally. They, however, showed low engagement levels with those apps. Respondents in western countries downloaded fewer apps per month, but showed higher engagement with them. Worldwide, users showed that they trusted mobile downloads, but not mobile ads. 

The survey found that on an average, smartphone users have 50 percent more apps on their device than those using feature phones. It shared that smartphone users have roughly 16 apps on their phones. The number was 10 for those using feature phones. 

On a rather related note, a study by Capgemini has found that Indians spend more on Internet stores than they do in a physical store and this definitely leads us to believe that more and more people are opening up to the idea of shopping online. The report, Digital Shopper Relevancy, gauges how the retail preferences of consumers have been changing as the traditional and digital retail channels around them continue to evolve and innovate.

The report surveyed 16,000 digital shoppers across 16 developing and mature markets. It stated that shoppers today "are not loyal to one channel but expect a seamless integration across online, social media, mobile and physical stores". 60 percent of those surveyed agreed that they expect a unified shopping experience, which essentially sees all retail channels come together. Having said that, more than half of the shoppers revealed that most retailers at the moment are "not consistent in the way they present themselves across channels".