A total of 85 percent of consumers in Nigeria use smartphones to research products online, according to a Google study.

The fourth annual Google Barometer survey polled 150,000 respondents in 46 different countries with the aim of finding out how people across the globe use the Internet for commercial activities.

The survey revealed that 85% of consumers in Nigeria use smartphones for product research, 30% use computers and 6% use tablets respectively. Purchases covered a full range of sectors such as clothing and footwear, home appliances, flights, hotels, cosmetics and groceries. 

According to the study, a significant proportion of consumers in Nigeria frequently use online shopping, as 45% of people researched their last purchase online.

Online advertising was identified as playing a key role in determining purchases among consumers in Nigeria as 61% found out about the product they last purchased through smartphone advertising and 16% through advertising on their computer.

A total of 74% of Nigerian respondents used the Internet for early inspiration and 49% to compare products.

Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Google’s Communication and Public Affairs Manager for Anglophone West Africa, commented, “Our research shows that smartphones are becoming a vital part of online shopping in Nigeria…Brands and their marketers are then likely to reach their greatest online audience by focusing their marketing communications on the smartphone