Research from Skrill shows over one third of Brits window shop before buying on mobile or online, indicating a future shopping experience with the physical and digital integrated

London, 20th November 2012: One in three Brits use the high street just to window-shop, using mobile phones to compare prices, save details for buying online at home or make purchases, according to research commissioned for digital wallet provider Skrill as part of its Future of Money campaign. The research uncovers an evolving shopping ecosystem, where the high street, online and mobile co-exist to deliver an all round experience.

Although 82% of British adults bought online in 2012, the Skrill research reveals the high street is still playing a role in driving today's behaviours. When out shopping, 22.8% of Brits have compared prices on their mobile, while a third have saved the details of an item in store in order to complete check-out on the web (33.6%) or have seen something in a store but ordered it online at another time (33.8%). A small, but potentially significant, 7.4% of high street shoppers have even used their mobile phone as an alternative check-out and purchased goods whilst in store, a figure that rises to 10.1% for those aged 25-34 years.

Siegfried Heimgaertner, Skrill CEO commented: "Our research has uncovered an emerging generation of shopper, one who is combining their mobile device with the internet to reach an alternative retail check-out process.

While we see cries of the 'death of the high street', consumers continue to leave the house for shopping inspiration, even if they then make the purchase via a smartphone or at home on the computer. As a result, we see an opportunity for high street retailers to turn browsers into buyers whilst in-store.

We expect this trend to continue as people look to remove traditional cash and card transactions, replacing them with online and mobile payments such as Skrill 1-Tap, for added speed and convenience. It will be fascinating to see what's in-store for the future of shopping, with physical stores, online and mobile all incorporated into the retail experience."

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Notes to editors
The Skrill research data was supplied by OnePoll from an online survey of 2,000 UK adults weighted by gender, age and region.

About Skrill
Skrill is one of Europe's largest online payments systems and among the world's largest independent digital wallet providers with 30 million account holders. The Skrill Digital Wallet enables any customer to make online payments conveniently and securely without revealing personal financial data, as well as send and receive money online cost-effectively.

Skrill's worldwide payment network offers businesses access to direct payment processing via 100 payment options in 200 countries and territories and 40 currencies, through just one integration. 135,000 merchants choose to offer Skrill as a simple and global payment system.

Founded in 2001, Moneybookers Limited, now trading as "Skrill", was the first emoney issuer to become authorised and regulated by the FSA. In 2007, Investcorp Technology Partners undertook the buyout of the company from its founders.

Contact
EML Wildfire Tech PR
Danny Whatmough / Ian McKee / Hannah Wright / Vicki Eltis
+44 208 408 8000
skrill@emlwildfire.com