Mobile shopping growth rates: What do retailers need to know?

Why are we talking about this now?

The IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking report released last week dubbed 2012 the “year mobile truly arrived” as m-commerce sales, which encompass smartphone and tablet orders, hit £7.5bn.

Throughout last year, mobile sales growth was consistently around the 300% mark. However, according to the report, there was a “considerable slowdown towards the end of 2012 both in terms of sales and visits”.

To what extent has mobile growth slowed?

Mobile sales accounted for 12% of online retail sales in 2012, a significant step forward from 2011 when they accounted for just 4%.

Although the yearly growth rate was strong, it was below expectations. While m-commerce sales as a percentage of etail sales almost doubled between the first quarter and the fourth quarter to the end of January, from 8.2% to 15.4%, IMRG had expected the latter figure to approach 20% in the crucial Christmas and January Sales period.

Visits to websites via mobile devices were expected to reach 30%, but were 24% in the final quarter.

Why did mobile sales unexpectedly slow down?

Capgemini vice-president of consumer products and retail Chris Webster believes the slowdown reflects an “issue with the customer experience retailers are offering”. He says: “If retailers are to reinvigorate the level of adoption, they must recognise the difference in the mobile channels and build specific customer experiences for the smartphone.”

Has mobile growth peaked?

Certainly not. IMRG chief information officer Tina Spooner expects mobile sales growth to continue to be in treble figures but likens the situation to the birth of online retail. “When we began tracking internet retail in 2000 it had growth rates of up to 200%,” she explains. “This continued until 2004 when the average growth rate fell back to 40%.”

Spooner believes advancements in mobile sites and apps - as well as the increasing popularity of browsing and transacting on tablets - will continue to fuel growth.

What will be the next big channel?

It could be anything from transacting via social media to smart TVs. “Retailers see spikes in traffic and transactions via tablets in the evening,” says Spooner. “This could translate to shoppers buying products when they see them on adverts as Smart TVs are adopted.”