Tag: m-commerce

Report predicts significant growth in the US mobile commerce industry

Forrester Research has released a new report concerning the future of the mobile commerce industry in the United States. The report predicts that the sector will experience significant growth, as many consumers are beginning to use their mobile devices to shop online. In the coming years, retailers may find new opportunities to engage mobile consumers and find success, as this demographic is beginning to play a larger and more influential role in the retail industry overall.

More consumers will be shopping with their mobile devices in the coming years

According to the report, mobile commerce transactions are expected to surpass $115 billion this year, surging to $142 billion in 2016. Forrester Research predicts that there mobile devices will generate a 15% increase in e-commerce sales by 2020. Tablets, in particular, will account for 33% of e-commerce sales over the next few years. Consumers have shown that they favor tablet devices while shopping due to their larger screens, which allow for a more convenient shopping experience.

Converting mobile traffic into sales has proven to be difficult

The report shows that nearly one-third of the traffic that merchants are seeing come from mobile devices. The problem, however, is converting this traffic into actual sales. Approximately only 11% of this mobile traffic actually translates into sales. Many retailers have found it challenging to engage mobile consumers effectively. Consumers have reported problems with the mobile shopping experience overall, with slow download speeds and faulty mobile commerce systems being a significant barrier to completing a purchase.

Millennials could be the key to mobile commerce success

The United States has become a very prominent mobile commerce market, but if retailers cannot acclimate to the needs of consumers with smartphones and tablets, they may miss out on promising opportunities. Engaging Millennials may be the key to success, as these consumers have become a powerful force in the mobile commerce industry as a whole. The report from Forrester Research shows that 40% of those between the ages of 16 and 24, throughout the world, are using their mobile devices to shop online every month.

A new report from the research firm has shown that by the close of 2016, sales will break the $142 billion mark.

Forrester Research has now released a new report that it has entitled its “U.S. Mobile Phone and Tablet Commerce Forecast, 2015 to 2020” and within it, it has shown that the close of this year will break $115 billion in transactions and they will only head upward from there.

The report also goes on to say that by the end of next year, m-commerce sales will explode past $142 billion.

Principal analyst at Forrester Research, Sucharita Mulpuru, who is also the firm’s vice president, explained that “We project that mobile phones will generate 15 percent of eCommerce sales by 2020, and tablets will generate 33 percent of eCommerce sales in the same time frame.” She also explained that as smartphones are rapidly becoming a main computing device for many consumers, it is surprising that those mobile commerce figures aren’t even higher than they already are.

The report from Forrester has placed the spotlight on many of the challenges creating a barrier to mobile commerce.

Although merchants have said that about a third of its current online traffic comes from mobile devices, the number of actual sales that are occurring over smartphones and tablets is only 11 percent. This shows that while people are visiting sites to check out brands, products, and stores, they aren’t actually using those same gadgets to make their purchases. When they do buy, it’s more likely to be in person or over a laptop.

Mulpuru stated that “Shoppers experience slow download speeds on smartphones in particular, and few retailers have managed to increase their mobile conversion rates over the years.” Most of the sales that are occurring over m-commerce are happening within three primary categories, which means that the majority of sectors remain underpenetrated and still have a great deal of unused potential. Those categories will need to go a long way before they will be able to experience success over that channel.

At the same time, there are also retailers who have been successful by way of mobile commerce innovations. In Forrester’s report, the firm explained that eBay and Amazon, combined, take in about one third of all shopping that is completed over smartphones and tablets in the United States.