Report highlights impact of mobile commerce on retail industry
The global retail industry has been struggling to find growth in 2012. Many retailers have been forced to close stores around the world for financial reasons while others have seen only modest gains among consumers. By contrast, the digital retail space has been performing much better, with online sales growing throughout 2012, largely thanks to the emergence of mobile commerce. Research firm IMRG has released a report concerning the growth of mobile commerce and the online retail market in the United Kingdom.
IMRG expects 12% increase in online sales during Christmas season
According to the report, IMRG predicts that there will be a 12% increase in online sales during the Christmas season in the United Kingdom. The firm anticipates that this uptick in sales will push the country’s online retail market beyond $80 billion for this year. Part of this is due to the growing number of consumers with mobile devices. Retailers have taken note of the high penetration of mobile technology among consumers and have begun moving to take advantage of this.
Retail industry beginning to evolve
The online retail space has been undergoing a major evolution over the past several months. Retailers are becoming more accommodating of mobile consumers, hoping to reach a new and highly active market. Many of these retailers have begun developing mobile applications that allow them to provide better service to consumers. Some of these applications allow consumers to make purchases of goods using nothing more than their smart phones, which is shaping up to be a powerful trend during the holiday season.
Dynamic engagement draws more support to mobile commerce
The report suggests that the UK retail industry will see promising growth during the Christmas season, powered largely by the momentum behind mobile commerce. Mobile commerce allows for more dynamic engagement with consumers, especially in physical stores. This engagement may help traditional retailers find success and growth in the wake of a problematic year that has cut into the profits of many companies around the world.
comScore releases final report on holiday shopping weekend
comScore has released its final rep
ort on the most significant holiday shopping weekend of the year. Thanksgiving marked the beginning of a shopping marathon for millions of consumers. Shopping finally came to an end on Cyber Monday, leaving many consumers content with the multitude of deals they were able to snag from retailers. comScore has been reporting on the performance of each of the major shopping days of the weekend: Thanksgiving day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. The firm has released its last report on this year’s extravaganza, showing that mobile commerce has played a major role.
More than $2.86 billion in sales recorded this year
According to comScore, retail sales set new records this year as retailers moved to engage mobile consumers in a more dynamic way. Retailers have been frantically adopting mobile commerce platforms in order to provide mobile consumers with more convenient services. comScore notes that e-commerce sites have been the most popular of these platforms and have accounted for more than $2.86 billion in sales during the holiday shopping weekend.
$750 million in mobile sales
Cyber Monday saw online sales of $1.46 billion, much of which is made up from mobile purchases. Over the entire holiday shopping weekend, more than $750 million in sales came from mobile consumers who used their smart phones or tablets to purchase products directly from retailers. The comScore report shows that the most growth seen during the holiday shopping weekend happened on Thanksgiving day. Traditionally, retailers did not offer their major deals until Black Friday. This year, however, companies began offering deals on Thanksgiving, hoping to kick start the holiday shopping weekend.
More retailers expected to show interest in mobile commerce
Though retailers saw the most mobile traffic on Cyber Monday, mobile commerce had a strong showing throughout the entire weekend. Consumers have shown interest in mobile commerce because of the convenience it provides them while shopping. The major success of mobile commerce initiatives during the holiday shopping weekend is likely to pave the way for more retailers to engage mobile consumers in a more serious manner.
