Final quarter data has now revealed that nearly a quarter of its online sales were over mobile devices.
QVC has become the latest believer in the success available through m-commerce as it saw an exceptionally strong performance over that channel in the last quarter of 2012.
This represented an increase of 60 percent in its sales over smartphones and tablets.
The QVC parent company, Liberty Interactive Corp., which was listed in the seventh place among the Top 500 for 2012 as identified by Internet Retailer, saw a considerable year end on December 31. According to the statistics included in its recently released report, its revenue had increased overall by 4.2 percent, bringing its total to $10.01 billion. This was an increase over its 2011 total of $9.61 billion.
While QVC saw its overall web performance rise, it was m-commerce that became the true star last year.
The American web sales for the company rose by approximately 10.9 percent, reaching $2.23 billion, when compared to the $2.01 billion from the year before. Its international web sales were not broken down by channel within this report. It did note that its total sales increased by 2.9 percent to $8.51 billion when compared to 2011’s $8.27 billion. Its international sales were up by just shy of that amount, 2.4 percent, reaching $2.93 billion from having been $2.86 billion the year before.
Forty percent of QVC’s American sales for the year were the result of online shoppers, which was a year over year rise of 37.1 percent. In the last quarter, online sales represented 42.7 percent of the total, which was a big jump from the 39.7 percent in the last quarter of 2011.
Where things were truly explosive, though, were in m-commerce in the last quarter. The sales in that channel grew by 109.3 percent in 2012 to reach $175.6 million. In 2011, that figure had been $83.9 million. Last year the mobile sales made up 22.6 percent of all of the online purchases, which was a tremendous leap over the 11.8 percent that they represented in 2011.
Clearly, 2012 was a defining year for m-commerce at QVC, which is bound to continue to push through this channel throughout 2013.
Retailers pressured to adopt mobile commerce to engage consumers
Consumers around the world are becoming more mobile. That is, more consumers are relying on mobile technology to operate in their daily lives. Mobile technology has made many aspects of people’s lives more convenient, such as social interaction due to their constant connection to the Internet. Commerce is also being revolutionized by mobile technology and people’s growing need for convenient service. More consumers are beginning to look for alternatives to traditional, physical stores, and many have turned to mobile commerce and e-commerce.
Retailers look for ways to bridge gap between online and offline worlds
Mobile consumers are turning to the Internet to find the products and services they want to pay for. As more consumers look online, retailers are feeling the pressure to adapt or risk losing contact with a growing portion of their audience. Thus, businesses are looking for ways to close the gap that currently exists between the online and offline worlds. Few retailers are willing to abandon physical stores, so many are attempting to provide consumers with incentives to visit these stores throug
h the use of mobile commerce.
Mobile commerce services being adopted by large retail companies
Big name retailers, such as Macy’s and Nordstrom, are working to make use of digital technologies in order to provide consumers with better in-store service. These companies have been working to broaden their reach through mobile commerce and e-commerce and, as a result, have been seeing declining in-store sales. Some consumers have even begun gravitating to online shopping platforms that are offered by other companies. This competition is driving innovation in the retail industry as companies attempt to find the best balance between mobile commerce and traditional forms of engagement.
Study predicts sales in mobile commerce to double next year
A recent study from Internet Retailer, called Mobile 400 Guide, shows that mobile commerce is growing. The study predicts that mobile commerce sales will double in 2013 as more consumers gain access to smart phones and mobile devices that are capable of facilitating mobile transactions. Retailers are feeling the need to find ways to engage consumers that are becoming increasingly enthralled in the world of mobile technology.
