Smartphones used for food shopping by 43 percent of US owners

(AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand)

Nearly half of American smartphone owners have used their device to assist in some part of the food shopping process and one third use their mobile devices in the supermarket according to a study released July 19 by Deloitte.

The report released July 19 by Deloitte, titled 2011 Consumer Food and Product Insights Survey Part Two, polled a "nationally representative" sample of 2,000 American consumers and has an error  margin of +/- five percentage points.

The survey found that the proliferation of smartphones has led to the devices being used in all aspects of food shopping. Of all smartphone users, 34 percent used the device in store to research food product information, and 43 percent used their smartphone to manage a food shopping list while not in a store.

Smartphone ownership in the United States is now estimated to be around 35 percent according to a Pew Research Center study released on July 11; according to market insights company Evolution this is a similar figure to the UK where smartphone ownership is estimated to be around 33 percent.

The similar figures of smartphone ownership in the UK also reflect a similar trend in grocery shopping; according to the Evolution survey, conducted throughout 2010, almost a third of UK smartphone owners used the device to research information about grocery products while shopping.

Deloitte - http://www.deloitte.com