A new report has predicted that tablets will lead the channel to a $50 billion in 2014.
A recently released report by eMarketer has added yet another piece of evidence to the claim that mobile is no longer a convenience or a fad, as t-commerce starts to come into its own and will lead the way to a highly valuable marketplace.
The report indicated that tablets alone will generate $24 billion in sales in North America by the end of 2013.
However, that is merely the beginning, as the report also indicated that this t-commerce figure will climb nearly twice over, to reach $50 billion in the United States by the close of 2014. This not only indicates that the role of mobile is growing explosively, but it also shows that tablets are now playing a vitally important part in this increase.
The spending in both m- and t-commerce has jumped tremendously since 2011.
Including both smartphone and t-commerce, the mobile spending reached nearly $25 billion. That represents a spike of 81 percent over the figures that were achieved the year before. This year, it is expected that m-commerce will be cutting a share worth 15 percent of the total online sales numbers, according to the predictions from eMarketer.
From the t-commerce side, on its own, tablets will make up over 9 percent of all sales made online. By 2016, eMarketer feels that tablets will represent up to 17 percent of the total sales online.
The majority of the t-commerce traffic will come from the popular iPad. The report predicted that “the bulk” of the tablet based web traffic will come from this Apple device, as it currently accounts for around 90 percent of the web traffic from this type of gadget. Though this may shift somewhat within that time, it will still maintain its majority share, said the report.
Previously performed t-commerce research has already indicated that consumers are more likely to use a tablet than a smartphone for doing their shopping online. It also determined that when those customers make purchases, they’re likely to spend a larger average amount of money than their cell phone using counterparts.
IBM data shows that the companies that stand to benefit the most are not taking advantage of the opportunity.
According to data from IBM, manufacturers and retailers could take advantage of tremendous opportunities being offered by m-commerce, but are not prepared to do so to its fullest extent.
These organizations are not adequately positioned for effective movements within this environment.
According to IBM global electronics leader for global business services, Paul Brody, “I don’t think that either of them is well positioned to have a leadership position in the pocket of the consumer.” He expressed this opinion at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year. He gave the m-commerce example of Square, which is a technology provider that allows consumers to make mobile payments at stores using their smartphones. This would allow for a hands free transaction.
For m-commerce this is the “prototype for the always-on, zero user-interface experience,” said Brody.
He took the mobile payments example to the next level by saying “Now imagine this technology for comparison shopping,” and added that “You are in the grocery store and they send you a message saying, ‘Why don’t you grab that roll of toilet paper because it is cheaper than anywhere else.’ I’m not sure that the retailers and typical OEMs have the technology and experience to focus on mobile vehicles to do that.”
According to another speaker at CES, the interactive marketing firm, SapientNitro’s chief experience officer, Donald Chestnut, explained that the behaviors consumers while both online and in-store is quite different from the way that they shop when they are sitting at their home computers.
He elaborated by pointing out that there are big box retailers that are now looking into this behavior and that are making efforts to leverage it by providing their associates with iPads so that customers within the store will be able to gain more information from the employees.
A recent m-commerce survey conducted by SapientNitro and GfK Roper showed that 70 percent of American retailers would like to be able to boost their shopping experience in-store. That said, when smartphone owning consumers were asked what they wanted, their response was that they would like more mobile friendly store flyers, to have downloadable in-store navigation apps, and the ability to use their devices for making payments.
