The German digital consumer – 10 takeaways from the latest consumer survey

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»The groundwork for consumer digitalization is set in Germany« – said Pablo Iacopino, Director of Europe at Pyramid Research – »as the adoption of next generation devices and services move beyond early adopter status, the consumer sentiment about mobile payment and online retail channels purchases improves, and the appetite for bundled services and additional content increases«.  

Some of the key insights and takeaways from the latest Pyrmaid Research Digital Consumer Analyzer (DCA) for Germany published in December 2015 are as follows [1]:

  1. Wearables gain momentum – Awareness continues to increase, particularly for smart watches (72 % of respondents), followed by fitness bands (48 %). Adoption of smart watches grew from 4 % to 6 % in six months. Telefónica Deutschland’s mobile customers (E-Plus and O2) have the highest adoption among MNOs.
  2. Spend on apps increases – 39 % of respondents buy mobile apps, and this percentage is 47 % among young adults (18-24 and 25-34 years old). Across all age groups, most consumers spend less than EUR0.50 per month. Among MNOs, T-Mobile has the highest share of app buyers within its customer base.
  3. Consumer sentiment about mobile payment improves – 30 % of respondents buy goods and services online via their mobile phone, and 21 % use a mobile banking app on their smartphone. Trust in mobile payment improved to 21 % of respondents. Apple’s phone users have a better attitude towards mobile payment than Samsung’s.
  4. Customer satisfaction with fixed providers is slightly lower than that with mobile providers – Reliability/speed of broadband connection is what consumers like the most about their fixed provider. Deutsche Telekom had the highest scores on those two points and its fixed broadband customers had the lowest churn intent (10 %, compared to 12 % at market level).
  5. Higher speed of broadband service remained the most desired loyalty benefit – 31 % of respondents would like faster speed as a loyalty benefit, followed by free device (tablet). However, access to additional content as a retention tool gains momentum.
  6. Consumer appetite for fixed-mobile bundles increases – 10 % of fixed broadband customers would like to add mobile services as part of their bundled broadband subscription. 16 % of T-Mobile’s customers declared they have selected this mobile operator because of an existing fixed broadband contract.
  7. The desirability of non-telco services bundled with fixed broadband is still low but grows – Insurance and security are more desired than utilities services. Both home security and home insurance registered a 4 %. Electricity is the most desired utilities service (5 %). Deutsche Telekom’s fixed broadband customers have higher desire for insurance/security than Kabel Deutschland/Vodafone’s.
  8. Consumers increasingly see subscription-based OTT video platforms as a complement to the main pay-TV subscription – 17 % of respondents said they were subscribing to one of those platforms – such as Netflix and Amazon Prime – in addition to their main pay-TV subscription. Adoption is pretty similar among the leading fixed broadband providers customers.
  9. Consumer desire for service/content bundles is higher than ever – Amazon Prime is the most preferred service consumers would like in their smartphone bundle (29 % of respondents), followed by Sky Sports Mobile and Netflix. O2 and Vodafone customers have a higher-than-average interest in Sky Sports Mobile. Spotify prevails over Deezer. Consumers in Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Bayern showed the highest desire for Amazon Prime services.
  10. 31 % of respondents are looking to change their mobile phone over the next six months – Apple’s users showed higher intent to change compared to Samsung’s. Better screen quality/resolution and more inbuilt storage were the top two triggers to switch smartphone brand. 41 % of respondents will buy the next smartphone online.
[1] All information in this text is based on the Pyramid Research survey “Digital Consumer Analyzer – Germany« published in December 2015.
Pyramid Research’s analysis is positioned at the intersection of emerging markets, emerging technologies and emerging business models, examining the performance, technology trends and macroeconomic and regulatory environment of service providers and equipment vendors in more than 100 countries. For more updates please visit www.pyramidresearch.com or follow @pyramidresearch on Twitter.