Yahoo7 has released its annual study into the digital lives of Australians, which revealed that smartphone use has surpassed that of desktops for daily digital habits for the first time*.
The 2017 report, Know Your Data, shows the increasing domination of mobile devices, with the Aussie smartphone love affair seeing consumers migrate away from the desktop to perform the top daily digital habits.
The study also found that the average Australian has increased their number of top daily digital habits from 2.8 in 2015 to 3.2 in 2016**, with email, search, social, weather and news identified as the leading daily digital pastimes.
Daily use of online banking has seen a 35 per cent increase and checking the weather has grown by 30 per cent, while the rise of video streaming services have seen long-form video increase by 60 per cent*.
According to the study, Australia’s digital habits are also becoming increasingly app-based, with a 53 per cent increase across Yahoo7’s app properties, including PLUS7 and 7News, since 2015***.
E-commerce also continues to grow as the number of people shopping online daily has doubled*. Of those who browsed daily in 2015, 27 per cent converted to a purchase – one year later, this is now a 40 per cent conversion rate*.
Of those shopping daily, smartphone usage is up 56 per cent and desktop is on the decline by more than a quarter*.
The study also revealed the peak times of day for each habit, with most Aussies more likely to check the weather early morning, complete their online banking mid-morning, browse recipes in the afternoon and watch video late in the evening.
However, the study found that this can vary considerably by audience and should be a key consideration for advertisers****.
Becky Smith, head of insights at Yahoo7, said: “The Know Your Data study has the power to significantly improve the relevance, accuracy and effectiveness of our clients’ campaigns through the most comprehensive insights into Australia’s digital habits.
“This data provides marketers with the most intimate understanding of their audiences yet, revealing how they live their lives through technology. This allows marketers to understand the mindset and motivations of this audience, and target them on the right device, at the right time with the most effective content.”
*Yahoo7 Daily Habits 2016
**Yahoo7 Daily Habits 2016, based on top 10 daily habits
***Flurry Analytics, Jan15-Dec 16, total session data for the iOS + Android versions of Plus7 and 7News apps)
****Yahoo7 Daily Habits 2016, based on index
