Smartphones

AUSTRALIANS are abandoning pen-and-paper shopping lists and buying with their mobile phones in the latest retail craze.

The newest type of shopping to sweep the globe is set to drive annual sales of $119 billion worldwide by 2015, a report reveals.

Consumers can already order goods ranging from pizzas to digital cameras, TVs, nappies and even footy jumpers with the touch of a phone button.

Others are using handsets to direct them to supermarkets, banks or fast-food outlets while on the road, or to check recipes before grabbing groceries on the run.

Retail analysts said most Aussies were using smartphones like the iPhone to search for products and best deals or to find store locations before hitting the shops to buy.

An ABI Research report predicts a boom in actual buying in future years as more consumers upgrade their handsets and companies make online shopping services more quickly and easily accessible with phones as well as computers.

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Pizza chain Domino's says a new iPhone application that lets users order its food with their handsets has generated sales of $2 million in just 12 weeks.

Since October, 110,000 iPhone users have downloaded an application that lets you find your nearest Coles supermarket, create electronic shopping lists through links to recipes or select various groceries from a virtual home.

Coles IT general manager Conrad Harvey said there were plans to add weekly catalogue specials.

The company is also investigating a system to share electronic shopping lists with family and friends.