Holiday season could be a major success for retailers thanks to mobile commerce
The way people shop is beginning to change as mobile commerce becomes more popular. Retailers have been taking note of the growing preference many consumers are adopting concerning online shopping and some have been taking steps to ensure that they can engage these consumers through their mobile devices more effectively during the upcoming holiday season. Some retailers are, however, still uncertain about the potential benefits of mobile commerce, which may mean that they will be missing out on a significant opportunity during the holidays.
Millennials are leading the mobile shopping trend
According to a recent study from comScore, a leading market research firm, some $5.8 billion in mobile transactions were recorded during the third quarter of 2013, a 26% increase over the transactions recorded during the same quarter in 2012. The study suggests that mobile purchases represent a significant portion of e-commerce revenue. Notably, a great deal of mobile commerce activity is coming from young consumers, often referred to as “millennials.”
Millennials likely to participate in mobile commerce
According to Google’s 2013 Holiday Shopper Intentions report, approximately 95% of millennials plan to use the Internet as a shopping tool during the holiday season. The report predicts that 88% of these millennials will be using their smartphones and tablets to shop online and purchase products. Many of these young consumers have grown quite comfortable with mobile commerce over the past year, thanks to the various mobile initiatives that have been launched by retailers and technology firms alike.
Retailers are preparing for mobile engagement
The 2012 holiday season exposed the retail industry to the promise that exists in the mobile commerce field. Since then, retailers have been working to bolster their presence in the mobile space. Many companies have launched mobile marketing campaigns that are encouraging consumers to participate in mobile commerce in the hopes of mimicking the success that they had seen during the 2012 holiday season.
Most consumers haven’t yet warmed to the idea of purchasing over their smartphones and tablets.
Despite the fact that this will likely be the biggest year (by far) for mobile commerce during the holiday season, the latest research is still showing that most consumers are less than enchanted with actually making a purchase through the use of their devices.
The research results were recently revealed by ICM, and were published in Retail Week.
The ICM research showed that 60 percent of all shoppers don’t plan to use mobile commerce at all throughout the length of the holiday shopping season. That said, one third of the respondents to the survey do plan to use their devices in at least some way as a part of the overall shopping process.
At the same time, the survey also showed that the future is looking very bright for mobile commerce.
We may not be there yet, but things are looking very promising in the not too distant future, due to younger consumers. It is that age group that appears to be the most open to purchasing through mobile commerce. In fact, 14 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 are expected to conduct a considerable amount of their Christmas shopping using smartphones and tablets.
A number of retailers have already been discussing their predictions regarding mobile commerce over the winter holiday shopping season. According to Andy Street, the managing director of John Lewis, there is already a 40 percent share of site traffic that comes from smartphones and tablets, so they are gearing up for a Christmas season that is heavily mobile. He stated that “Purchasing from desktop is moving to mobile. It is at 40% and growing very rapidly and we expect to see that moving forward again,” and added that “We are preparing for what we anticipate will be the UK’s first ‘mobile Christmas’.”
Home Retail, the parent company of Argos, has also applauded mobile commerce. Last week, it shared its own figures, saying that there has been an increase of 133 percent in sales over smartphones and tablets, and that 17 percent of its total sales in the second quarter were from these devices.
