Tag: mobile spending

New report sheds light on the success being seen in mobile commerce

Leading market research firm eMarketer has released a new report concerning the state of the mobile commerce sector. The report highlights various aspects of the mobile commerce space, shedding some light on the factors influencing its growth and the challenges it faces around the world. Mobile commerce has been seeing strong growth over the past two years as consumers become more integrated with mobile technology. The proliferation of smartphones and tablets has exposed consumers to a variety of mobile services that they are showing a great deal of enthusiasm for.

Mobile sales expected to reach $133 billion by 2017

According to the report from eMarketer, mobile commerce now accounts for a sizeable portion of the retail sales being recorded in the U.S. The report estimates that mobile sales will reach $41 billion by the end of 2013, a 68% increase over the level they had been in the previous year. By 2017, the report suggests that mobile sales will balloon to $133 billion. Consumers appear to favor mobile commerce because of the convenience that it represents and it is becoming increasingly common for consumers to use their mobile devices to purchase products even when they are already in physical stores.

Tablets are more popular than smartphones

The report notes that tablets have become more popular for mobile commerce than smartphones. While smartphones may be more plentiful among consumers, tablets offer a better shopping experience. Larger screens offer better navigation capabilities and allow consumers to access sites that may not be optimized for viewing on a smartphone. The report notes that nine in 10 consumers are more willing to make a purchase with their tablet than with their smartphones.

Challenges could derail the momentum behind mobile commerce

Mobile commerce does, of course, face significant challenges that could become quite serious in the years to come. Security is expected to remain one of the most problematic issues that faces the mobile commerce sector. Poor infrastructure is also expected to reduce the popularity of mobile payments as consumers run into problems that prevent them from making a purchase with their mobile device.

The world is changing and you should be focusing a lot of your energy on the mobile market.

If the thought hasn’t even crossed your mind yet you should be really worried. Luckily it’s not too late, but you have to get in there quick because you’re leaving money on the table. I want to show you how big an opportunity you have in front of you.

Accessing the web

Do you remember when you had to use a dial-up connection to access the internet from the large computer sitting in your room? After a few years laptops and broadband came along, but now we can access the internet from a small device in our pocket. There is already a huge proportion of the population using their phone to go online on a daily basis.

Mobile spending spree

Just because people access the internet from their smartphone doesn’t necessarily mean they will actually buy anything from such a small handset. You would be forgiven for thinking people run home to do all their shopping on their PC or laptop, but they don’t which is great for you. A lot of people have purchased something using their phone.

Black Friday shopping

Black Friday gets a lot of businesses excited because everyone tries their hardest to throw all their money away. In 2012 people spent over 50 billion dollars, but have you any idea what percentage of those purchases were completed on a mobile device? Around 25% of buyers used a mobile device, but this includes tablets as well as mobile phones.

The future is bright

If you thought the numbers were in your favor at the moment you should wait a few years because it’s going to get even better. Even more people are going to start feeling safe enough to enter their credit card details on their phone, plus think about all the people who are going to buy a smartphone for the very first time.

Spontaneous shopping

The reason you need to prepare yourself for a mobile boom is because people are much more likely to buy things spontaneously when they’re on their phone. When someone is sitting at a PC they have time to think about what they’re doing. When they have a phone in their hand they will come across something and it’s much easier for them to click on the buy-now button.

The tablet revolution

We’ve touched on tablets already, but you’re probably more excited about smartphones because so many people are walking around with one. I wouldn’t discount tablets just yet because more and more people are buying them every day. In fact, it’s estimated one in three US internet users will own one within the next few years.

Get ready to move

I hope you now realize it’s vital you start concentrating on mobile because it’s going to make you a lot of money in the future. You don’t want to be chasing everyone in a few years’ time, because it’s guaranteed all the main players will be ready and waiting for the good times to roll in.

Author Byline:

The author of this post, Nancy Baker, is a part of the team at Want Buy Let Buy, an online electronics shop that specializes in mobile phone accessories. She has a keen interest in Apple products and enjoys sharing her tips and thoughts via blogging. You can also follow her on Twitter @Nancy Baker.

Summary

I’ve talked about why people need to concentrate on the mobile market because if they don’t they’ll be leaving a huge amount of money on the table.