Advertisers in the United Kingdom increased their spending by 94 percent last year.

The results of a Marin Software study regarding the use of mobile marketing in 2012 have shown that advertisers in the U.K. boosted their budgets for paid search by nearly double when compared to the year before.

This, according to the “Mobile Advertising Around the Globe Report” released by the firm.

This same research also suggested that tablets and smartphones were the focus of 14.8 percent of paid search that occurred in the U.K., at the start of last year, throughout January. It also indicated that by December, that same figure had increased by almost twice as much, to reach 24.4 percent.

The increase in the use of mobile marketing paid clicks was the result of consumers who were shopping.

The report indicated that the reason that mobile marketing results increased by such a rate in the paid search area was that consumers were using smartphones and tablets in order to assist in their holiday shopping.

Also notable was the report’s suggestion that the click through rates over smartphones and tablets were higher than they were on desktops and laptop computers. This form of mobile marketing occurred at an average of 5.87 percent for smartphones and 3.93 percent with tablets in the United Kingdom. Conversely, desktops and laptops generated click through rates of only 2.29 percent.

The study showed that the cost per clicks were quite competitive in the mobile marketing sphere. For smartphones and tablets, they were £0.15, whereas the desktop cost per click was £0.30.

The predictions made by Marin Software were that the conversion rates for mobile commerce through paid search will be equal those of desktop by the close of this year. That said, at the moment, the conversion rates are still, by far, the highest on desktop and laptop computers, at 4.1 percent on average. This, compared with the average on smartphones, at 1.5 percent and on tablets, at 2.6 percent, shows that there is still some way to go. The U.K.’s click through rate over mobile currently represents the highest average among all European countries.

Report shows Amazon and Apple win over consumers with mobile commerce services

ForeSee, a leading market research firm, has released its ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Holiday Retail Edition report highlighting consumer satisfaction in the realm of mobile commerce. Traditionally, Amazon and Apple dominate the charts in terms of consumer satisfaction. The two companies boast of a powerful online presence that has proven difficult to compete with among smaller businesses. The report from ForeSee shows that the dominance that Amazon and Apple have established online translates well into the mobile space.

Growth of mobile commerce may not bode well for physical retailers

According to the report, Amazon leads the retail industry in terms of satisfaction among mobile consumers. The retailer has adopted a very strong focus on mobile commerce, offering a variety of services to consumers that want to make purchases using their smart phones and tablets. Apple has followed suit and has found significant success through engaging mobile consumers, many of whom already make use of Apple products. The performance of these two companies does shed some light on the retail industry and its continuing struggle in the offline world.

Some retailers are experiences steep declines in store traffic

Retailers without a strong online presence continue to see major declines in business. Companies like Sears and Gamestop have been seeing less traffic in actual stores. While Gamestop does have a relatively strong online presence, Sears has been lacking in the e-commerce field for years and does not perform well among mobile consumers. Retailers that are not embracing mobile commerce may actually be missing a significant opportunity at keeping their own business afloat.

Mobile commerce adoption is not free

Mobile commerce has become a powerful trend with consumers. Smart phones and tablets are abundant and people are finding it easier to shop using their mobile devices than go to physical stores. Adopting mobile commerce is not free, however, as retailer have to develop a suitable platform that is accommodating to mobile consumers. Those that cannot afford to invest in such an endeavor are unable to fully embrace mobile commerce.