Category: Mobile Commerce

The sales from the first half of this year have already managed to exceed all of those from last year.

According to data released by Affiliate Window, there have already been more mobile commerce sales in 2013 in the first half of the year than there were in all of 2012.

This, according to the latest report from the performance marketing company on these transactions.

Affiliate Window is a performance marketing company. The report that it issued regarding mobile commerce sales showed that among all of the sales that it is experiencing at the moment, 20.89 percent are now originating from smartphones and tablets. This was a notable increase over even a month beforehand when that same figure had been 18.16 percent.

The growth in mobile commerce transactions was even more significant when compared to January.

The report issued by the company also showed that in January 2013, the number of transactions had been far lower than in the last month of the report. In January, it had been more than 6 percent lower than it was in June.

Mobile commerce is playing a rapidly growing role in online shopping and is representing an increasingly large share of those sales. In June, it had a share of 8.52 percent, while in May it had been 7.5 percent. This represents the first time that sales originating from smartphones have ever had a share of the online shopping market that was greater than 8 percent.

Moreover, the report also showed that for the first time since March 2011, the share of the traffic that was originating from iPads had fallen below the share that was originating from the iPhone. That said, tablets as a whole are still being seen as a much larger contributor to shopping. They represent a much larger share of the transactions occurring online.

Equally, Affiliate Window recorded that the conversion rates that it is experiencing have plateaued at just a little bit more than three percent across both tablet and smartphone devices. The second half of this year should prove to be very interesting in terms of defining trends that can be compared with those from previous years.

Alibaba reigns over Chinese mobile commerce

China’s mobile commerce sector has been growing at a rapid pace. The sector is currently worth approximately $41 billion and is increasing in value at a nearly daily rate. The popularity of mobile commerce has encouraged many companies to enter into this space in order to find some financial success. Unfortunately for many of these companies, however, they have to compete with the country’s leading online retailer, Alibaba. Before mobile commerce emerged, Alibaba already held a dominating presence in the online retail space. Now, Alibaba has come to dominant mobile commerce as well.

Alibaba boasts of 75% market share in mobile commerce sector

The online retail market in China is currently valued at $177 billion and Alibaba holds nearly 40% of this market. The company is so large and has established such a strong foothold within China that it has effectively shut out its competitors, including eBay and Amazon. While eBay has managed to find some room for growth in China, this growth has largely been dictated by Alibaba. In terms of mobile commerce, Alibaba currently represents 75.1% of the market.

Rumors suggest Alibaba may soon go public

Despite the sheer size of Alibaba, the company remains privately held. There are rumors suggesting that the company may soon go public, which could be a major opportunity for investors interested in online retail and mobile commerce. Given the company’s proficiency for shutting out its competitors, investment interest in Alibaba has been significant for several years. Whether the company will go public in the future remains unknown.

Security concerns derail growth in other countries

Mobile commerce is becoming a major staple in China, but has yet to establish a major presence elsewhere in the world. In the U.S. and the United Kingdom, mobile commerce has established a relatively strong foothold. In these markets, interest in mobile payments is offset by concerns regarding the security of mobile commerce platforms. These security concerns have been enough to slow the growth of mobile payments significantly in many parts of the world.