Mobile devices have become a key component of the digital shopping landscape, with both smartphones and tablets contributing higher levels of e-commerce sales as more consumers adopt the devices and become comfortable shopping on them.
Last year, the US retail mobile commerce sales rose up 81% to nearly $25 billion. This year, a further increase of 55.7% in sales is expected, and mobile sales will account for 15% of all retail e-commerce. Mobile commerce sales include all purchases made via smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices, excluding sales of travel and event tickets.
Mobile commerce forecast reflects a confluence of three trends:
- The expanding number of smartphone shoppers whose behavior affects commerce in all channels.
- The growing number of smartphone buyers who enjoy the immediacy of purchasing through their phone and are expected to generate roughly one-third of mobile commerce sales this year.
- The rapid rise in tablet shopping, which will produce the bulk of mobile commerce sales over the next four years.
This year, the US consumers will spend $24 billion shopping on their tablets, and that figure will nearly double by 2015. Mobile commerce sales on smartphones are lower and will grow more slowly, reaching $13.44 billion this year and $24.32 billion by 2016. Purchases on other mobile devices, such as e-readers, will continue to make up a small but steady share of the mobile commerce pie.
The rapid rise in mobile commerce sales on tablets means that such purchases will account for 9.4% of all retail e-commerce sales this year, and 16.9% of the total by 2016. Smartphones, which initially had a lead due to earlier adoption, will contribute 5.3% of retail e-commerce sales this year.
Holiday shopping season figures from several research firms demonstrate the rapid rise in mobile commerce sales, and especially tablets’ large contribution to the total.
