Smartphone and tablet adoption in Brazil has increased, as a result, the shopping habits by Brazilians have shifted.

According to research released by PricewaterhouseCoopers in November 2013, nearly three out of 10 Brazilian digital buyers completed a transaction via a mobile device during 2012. To provide specifics, 28 percent of digital transactions were conducted on tablets while 31 percent were completed via smartphones.

In 2013, shopping online via smartphones or tablets encountered "significant growth," as eMarketer stated. By 2013, 40 percent of digital buyers in Brazil made a purchase on a mobile device.

"At these levels, tablet and smartphone purchases in Brazil were quite in line with the worldwide averages, while also being slightly higher than the respective shares in more developed ecommerce markets such as Great Britain and France," noted eMarkter. "However, purchases in the country still fell short of China's massive mobile purchase penetration among digital buyers."

PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed Great Britain's digital buyers via tablets represented 39 percent while smartphone garnered 37 percent. France also fared behind Brazil with 26 percent of digital transactions via tablets and 25 percent from smartphones. China dominated the digital buyers via smartphones and tablets devices. In China during 2013, digital buyers utilizing tablets represented 77 percent while smartphones fared at 68 percent.

Brazilian smartphone owners are not only using their device to initiate transactions but to influence their shopping decisions.

According to the IBOPE Nielsen Online and Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in a September 2013 study, 51 percent of smartphone owners used their mobile devices to compare prices while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. Brazilian smartphone owners who have checked their device to compare prices were likely to give up on a purchase, which represented 37 percent of the survey.

Advertisements in smartphones have proven to sway a consumer as 28 percent stated they remembered a product or band from an advert while 22 percent surveyed said they visited a store due to an ad on a smartphone.

Although mobile device usage grew in Brazil, computers were still considered the popular choice to access the Internet. In November 2013, the IBOPE Inteligência for Secretaria de Comunicação Social da Presidência da República (SECOM) polled Brazilians and found personal computers, or PCs, were the preferred choice to access the World Wide Web regardless of demographics.

Mobile phones ranked second among the surveyed demographics. Data from the F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi and Datafolha Instituto de Pesquisas found nearly 41 million users accessed the Internet from their mobile phone. Tablets trailed behind mobile phones with only 8 million Internet users logged in.

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