According to Totally Workwear research, 20% of online sales are made from a smartphone.

According to Totally Workwear research the younger the tradie, the more likely they are to use a smartphone to shop. One in three tradies between the ages of 25 and 44 are just as likely to buy their workwear/footwear online as they are to buy tools for the jobsite or basic office supplies.

Tradies aged 55 to 64 however, swear black and blue that they never have and never will shop from a smartphone.

The smartphone is rated as the second most popular technology used at work by tradies, the first being the laptop. Given the mobile nature of a tradie’s job, mobile technologies are naturally popular and this year, 38.9% of tradies expect to use a smartphone on the job.

Totally Work Wear national sales manager Judy Ackerman says, “Technology has changed the way tradies work and for us – shop! Feedback from our customers has been it’s easier to have the right safety and work gear when it’s easy to buy it. This is testament to the increase in shopping we’ve witnessed on our website from smartphones.

“We are not alone. Research from Worksafe Victoria found that tradies were most receptive to safety messages online, particularly when accessible via smartphone. We have no doubt that smartphone shopping is only going to get more popular, as more and more people move to smartphones for work this year.”

With the increase in smartphone usage, it’s not just smartphone shopping that has seen a boost. Blue collar workers were listed as one of the top social media usage trends of 2012.

The more techy the better. According to the TWW research 68.2% of respondents believe tech savvy tradies have a greater chance of a promotion or winning a new project.