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UK Mobile Commerce Sales to hit $33 million in 2016

Mobile shopping is driving retail e-commerce sales in the UK.

UK mobile commerce will fuel the growth of e-commerce sales this year, says eMarketer. According to the most recent forecast from the independent market research company, retail electronic commerce sales in the UK for 2016 are likely to exceed £67 billion (approximately $88.7 billion). Mcommerce will account for a total of £25.2 billion ($33 billion) of these online sales.

E-commerce will represent a 22.6% share of total retail sales in the UK by 2020.

In terms of retail digital sales share of total retail sales, the UK is a world leader. Its e-commerce sales are fueled by the impressive growth of smartphone-based buying from UK consumers. Consumers in the United Kingdom have always been fast to adopt digital technologies, including embracing shopping and buying on mobile devices. The $33 billion mobile commerce prediction from eMarkter is an increase of over 25% from 2015.

UK Mobile Commerce GrowthThis growth in UK mobile commerce retails sales is expected to continue to grow over the next few years. By 2020, mcommerce sales are predicted to surpass £42.5 billion ($56 Billion). The growing retail ecommerce market in the UK is helping to make up for the decline the nation has experienced in terms of traditional retail sales.

Most UK mobile commerce sales come from tablet devices.

Presently, tablet devices are responsible for the majority of mobile commerce sales. eMarketer notes that in 2016, £15.8 billion ($19.8 billion) will be spent via tablet commerce. This represents over 62% of total m-commerce sales.

That being said, more and more consumers are using their smartphones for shopping. According to Bill Fisher, an eMarketer senior analyst, “Smartphone usage continues to have far-reaching implications for retailers in the UK.” Fisher added that “However, more than simply driving digital retail traffic, these latest numbers show that smartphones are now increasingly driving digital sales. Getting the smartphone sales experience right is becoming more vital than ever. ”

While smartphones currently make up only 35.4% of UK mobile commerce spending, by 2020 this is forecasted to change. It is projected that smartphone-based shopping will account for 52% of spending and £22.1 billion ($29.2 billion) sales.

Walmart Pay now available in 37 states

Walmart mobile payments roll out in 19 new states.

Walmart Pay is available in approximately 3,700 of its stores across the United States. Although it failed to reach its initial goal of launching the payment service to every store by the end of June, it added close to 1,300 stores in 19 new states throughout last week. Now, the total number of states where the mobile payments service is available has reached 37 and also includes Washington D.C., reported Chain Store Age.

The digital wallet service rollout started back in May 2016.

The service was officially announced by the monster retailer back in December of 2015. Texas and Arkansas were the first states to receive the service. Walmart’s payment solution – which works via the retailer’s mobile shopping app – launched at 600 stores across both states back in May.

Walmart Pay - Walmart StoreThe 19 new states where Walmart Pay is now live include: Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Washington, Ohio , Idaho, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island.

Walmart Pay has a massive built-in potential customer base.

Currently, Walmart’s mobile app has 22 million active users. With such a huge consumer base, Walmart Pay has plenty of potential for success.

The mobile payments service from Walmart is easy to use and is one of the options on the retailer’s mobile app. Consumer with the app can choose the payment option at checkout, which activates their smartphone camera. With their camera they scan the code displayed at the register. The scanned code will connect them to Walmart Pay. Once the transaction is complete, an e-recipe is sent to the app. Customer can view this e-receipt whenever they want.

In addition to their own digital wallet service, the American multinational retail corporation also intends to accept other forms of digital and mobile payments within its stores.

While certainly not the first to launch it s own mobile payments solution, Walmart’s decision to rollout Walmart Pay could prove advantageous for the company. Although consumers aren’t likely to obtain many merchant-specific payment apps, it is the largest Tier I retailers – like Walmart – that have the highest potential to experience the most success with these services.