Mobile shopping is the new black and a recent survey carried out by Conlumino indicates that it will continue to grow at an impressive rate for the foreseeable future. M-commerce has already risen 55 percent compared to a year ago and it is now estimated that it will grow another 115 percent over the next 12 months.
The mobile boom has a lot to do with the positive trend. The number of smartphones in Britain is also expected to overtake the number of PCs this year and it seems quite a few consumers are choosing to do their shopping on phones. New 4G carriers are also entering the fray later this year and universal 4G coverage will, we’re told, reach 98 percent of the UK within a year.
In fact, LTE is expected to add £1.8 billion to the UK economy, with £800 million coming from existing mobile shoppers and £1 billion coming from new users, reports The Telegraph. An estimated one third of UK adults currently use smartphones for some aspect of their shopping and although most are not making any transactions, they use phones to browse products and compare prices. Just ten percent complete their transactions on smartphones, so it seems there is a lot of room for growth.
Conlumino executive Neil Sauders stressed that retailers must seize every opportunity to engage consumers and reach out to them.
“An ‘omnichannel’ approach is key to making this happen and retailers can’t afford to stand still,” he said.
The survey was commissioned by eBay, which knows a thing or two about e-commerce. It found that consumers want more convenience and speed, and 4G is just what the doctor ordered for the latter.
