Mobile phones and tablets are now responsible for more online sales in
Britain than traditional desktop or laptop computers, the IMRG Capgemini
Quarterly Benchmarking report showed.
In the key holiday and clearance season running from November to January,
m-commerce accounted for a history-making 51 percent of e-sales. That was a
significant increase on 45 percent in the previous quarter and a rise from
40 percent year-on-year.
While smartphone growth has been fast, tablets are still the primary
devices for mobile-based shopping with a share of 33 percent, compared to
18 percent for phones.
Regular computers are still the biggest overall category though with a 49
percent share, but it’s a share that’s shrinking rapidly.
The change to mobile devices is even more marked when website traffic alone
is measured, rather than sales. On that basis, mobile devices accounted for
66 percent of site visits, rising from 63 percent in the previous quarter
and 53 percent a year ago.
IMRG cited shoppers feeling more confident about m-commerce plus retailer
improvements to their websites and larger-screen phones for the change.
Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said: “Smartphones have
played an important role in the overall online shopping process for a long
time – often used for research and comparison on the go – but over the past
year they have really started to become a major component of the checkout
process too and that is what is driving this leap in mobile penetration.”