The shift toward using mobile devices for shopping online continues,
with 40 percent of all UK online retail sales being completed through
tablets and smartphones, according to new figures released by IMRG and
Capgemini.
The figures for the three months to January 2015 are up from 37 percent
in the previous quarter, which marks the steepest quarterly rise in the
rate of mobile retail penetration since Q4 2013/14, when mobile devices
accounted for 32 percent of online sales.
The report also shows that around 25 percent of m-commerce sales were
completed through smartphones, compared with 75 percent through tablets
over the past three months. That is a 5 percentage point rise from the
same period a year earlier.
Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG, said: “The smartphone
has generally been regarded as a research tool for comparing prices and
checking information primarily. Yet the number of m-retail sales completed
via these devices has risen from one in five to one in four in the space of
a year, and we’ve seen mobile conversion rates rise significantly over the
same period as UK shoppers now clearly feel confident in using their
smartphones for completing purchases.”
“The quarterly growth of smartphones as a shopping channel may only be
slight. It is however very significant,” added Adgild Hop, retail director
at Capgemini. “Over the last few years, retailers have taken huge steps to
improve their smartphone shopping platforms, making them more
user-intuitive and more secure for customers. Coupled with greater
connectivity, consumers are more confident than ever in using their
smartphones to make complete purchases and not just for online window
shopping.
Hop added: “The potential impact of the smartphone on the in-store
shopping experience will be a key area of innovation and development in the
coming months.”
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