Mega Monday proves attractive to mobile shoppers
IBM Digital Analytics has released a new report concerning the performance of mobile commerce in the United Kingdom on the famous “Mega Monday” shopping event. Mega Monday fell on November 25 this year and is quite popular among consumers because of the special deals and discounts retailers tend to offer on that particular day. This year, consumers appeared to have favored shopping with their mobile devices rather than participate in traditional forms of commerce, largely due to convenience issues.
42% of online retail traffic came from mobile devices on Mega Monday
According to the report, online sales rose by 33.5% on Mega Monday over what they had been during the same day of 2012. Approximately 42% of all online traffic came from mobile devices, a 68% increase over 2012’s online retail traffic volume. The majority of this traffic resulted in a sale, with consumers taking advantage of the deals that were being offered by retailers during Mega Monday.
Tablets are ideal for mobile shopping
The report shows that many people favored their tablets over their smartphones when it came to mobile shopping. This is largely due to the more accommodating nature of tablets. The large screens of these devices make it easier for consumers to navigate retail sites, thereby making it easier to find and purchase products that they are interested in. Smartphones remain popular among most consumers, however, due to their convenient size.
Retailers look to mimic the success of the past
The holiday season has long been a significant time of year for retailers. Over the past two years, retailers have been putting more focus on the mobile sector, and this has been paying off for many companies. In 2011 and 2012, retailers saw a significant increase in revenue due to their proclivity for engaging mobile consumers. Many are hoping to mimic this success this year by ramping up their mobile commerce initiatives.
Mobile commerce competition continues to heat up
It is not uncommon for companies to compete with one another, especially in the field of mobile commerce. It is relatively uncommon, however, for start-ups to target large corporations as their major competition. Mobile commerce firm Zapp, which is based in the United Kingdom, has taken aim at both Visa and MasterCard, seeking to dethrone these two companies in the mobile commerce arena. Zapp plans to boast of more than 20 million users by the end of 2017, an ambitious goal that if achieved would make the firm one of the most successful entities in the mobile commerce field.
Zapp aims for 20 million users by 2017
Zapp was launched earlier this year and aims to make mobile payments in stores, online, and through applications more convenient and accessible to consumers in the United Kingdom. The firm intends to incorporate its mobile payments system into banking application from some of the country’s largest financial firms. Zapp is reportedly close to closing deals with three prominent banks in the UK, which will give the company significant momentum to launch its mobile commerce services through these institutions at some point next year.
Banks could incorporate Zapp services
Zapp is designed to bypass card networks. Using Zapp, consumers will have a direct connection to their bank accounts, which can be used to make mobile payments for goods and services. Zapp claims that this will make mobile commerce more convenient for consumers as they will never have to deal with physical cards or other forms of physical currency.
Retailers show interest in Zapp
The mobile commerce firm is not only focused on banks, of course, as it also expects several prominent retailers in the UK to make use of its services. Zapp is proving attractive to retailers through the promise of higher checkout completions and the low fees associated with the services it offers. Whether Zapp will be able to compete with Visa and MasterCard among retailers and banks has yet to be seen, as both Visa and MasterCard have a significant head start over the mobile commerce start-up.
