The Trends of Mobile Commerce in Retail Industry

Ravi Kolhe | 8/14/2013 | |
With the emergence of wireless communication services coupled with the ubiquity of the mobile devices, the retail landscape is gradually changing. The technological advances are creating new opportunities for both online and brick-and-mortar store retailers. Thus, it is no surprise that a number of retailers are launching mobile sites and smartphone apps, leading to the proliferation of mobile commerce sales. In fact, according to a recently published eMarketer study around 25% of America’s online retail transactions will take place on mobile commerce platform by 2017.

M-commerce sales are expected to grow to $38.84 billion this year in comparison to the $24.81 billion figure of last year, which is a growth of 82 percent. And by 2017, sales made through mobile commerce platform will account for more than $108 billion for retail sales in USA. Also, 60% of the sales in m-commerce category will occur through tablet devices this year, predicts the study. In fact, tablet-based purchases, as they are also called, are one of the hottest m-commerce trends and have a profound impact on how online retailers market and sell.

In United States around 12 percent of the ecommerce sales were made through smartphones and tablets, during the fourth quarter of the previous year. The main reason behind this transaction share explosion is the ease of use of tablets and the interactive shopping experience that these devices provide. The mainstream adoptions of tablets since 2011 have actually resulted in the acceleration of mobile commerce sales. In fact, it was also noticed that tablet users spent more time on their devices than one using a desktop computer. According to a Google study conducted back in 2011, the figure is 43 percent. They also found that 33% of people using tablets spent more on such mobile devices than on television. And the trend still continues. Considering the opportunity, retailers are focusing on mobile commerce platforms to reach out to these smart device users. Another study conducted by Adobe in 2012 showed that 43 percent of people using tablets accepted that they like to shop through mobile commerce platforms using their tablets.

The retail industry saw a rapid growth in m-commerce sales made through tablets. As per the eMarketer study, m-commerce sales made through tablets will account for 9.4 percent of the total retail ecommerce sales in this year. And the figure is expected to increase to 16.9 percent by 2016. Smartphones, on the other hand, will account for 5.3 percent of the total retail sales in the ecommerce market this year.

Thus, marketers need to consider this behavioral shift of the new-age buyers and make strategic promotional plans for their products, based on this trend. For brands, it is almost impossible to leave out mobile channels when it comes to marketing and promoting products. But having mobile commerce platforms is not enough, they need to understand what ignites the interest of the tablet and smartphone users and make marketing strategies accordingly.

About the Author:
Ethan Miller is a writing professional specialized in technical writing and an admirer of augmented reality, especially 3D augmented reality. He is fascinated by the world of augmented reality including various augmented reality IOS apps and augmented android apps and their effect on interactive shopping experience.

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