Tag: smartphone commerce

M-commerce sees growth of 31 percent in Q1 2013

M-commerce 31 percent growthWhen compared to a year ago at the same time, mobile shopping increased by nearly a third in the first quarter.

According to the latest IBM Online Retail Index research data, m-commerce has experienced a growth by nearly a third (31 percent) in the first quarter of 2013, when compared to its size at the same time in 2012.

The report pointed out that the growing use of tablets and customer service improvements were primary drivers.

The index states that at the moment, m-commerce is making up 17.4 percent of all online retail sales. This is a notable increase over where it was a year prior, at 13.3 percent. On the whole, spending online, in general, had increased by 20 percent within that same quarter. The index found that tablets are playing an ever increasing role as a driver of shopping over mobile.

They said that m-commerce has become more comfortable as people use iPads and other tablets.

The overall m-commerce traffic, including all devices, rose by 40 percent in the first quarter of 2013. However, among tablets, specifically, there was an increase of almost 80 percent when compared to the same time last year.

The report pointed out that “This trend reflects marketers’ ability to create a positive customer experience for consumers shopping on their iPads and Kindles, by designing for the finger and making it easier for customers to browse via their mobile devices.” The results presented in this report align quite closely with other similar research that is also pointing to tablets in their growing importance for m-commerce.

Earlier in 2013, there was a forecast issued by eMarketer which stated that transactions over tablets made up 57 percent of the almost $25 billion that occurred over m-commerce in 2012. Based on that, they expected the figure to rise to reach 62.5 percent in 2013. This is also interesting as the penetration of tablets is at less than half of that of smartphones. Tablets are currently owned by approximately 20 percent of people in the United States, whereas it is believed that more than 50 percent are already the owners of smartphones.

Technology news report finds that access to mobile phones has skyrocketed

Technology News Report - access to mobile phones on the riseThe most recent statistics are showing that the devices are more common than toilets around the world.

The latest technology news through a recent UN report has shown that there is officially greater access to mobile phones around the world than there is to toilets.

The United Nations report has indicated that the penetration of these devices is greater than that of bathrooms.

According to the statistics within the UN report, there are approximately 6 billion people around the globe who currently have a mobile phone. At the same time, however, there are only 4.5 billion who have access to a traditional latrine or toilet. Though this may seem to be a rather amusing statistic, this technology news has revealed a shocking truth to some of the largest organizations in the world.

The technology news report has unearthed an issue that is not at all funny, though the data may seem to be.

As a result of this technology news, the UN and some of the largest names in the industry – which includes Bill Gates from Microsoft – are coming together to help to solve the “sanitation crisis” that is occurring in many regions around the globe.

This week, the deputy secretary general of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson made a call to action to the people and organizations of the world in order to make urgent changes to eliminate the lack of basic sanitation that is a daily reality for 2.5 billion people, as well as “to change a situation in which more people worldwide have mobile phones than toilets.”

Mr. Eliasson explained his determination to drive action that will lead to positive results based on this technology news. He has addressed his call to all actors, “government, civil society, business and international organizations,” to make a commitment to taking measurable action that would generate the necessary resources and implement them for a rapid boos to the “access to basic sanitation” that is available to people around the world, no matter where they may live.

The technology news was seen as a reality check that led directly to this call to action. According to the UN report, it would not establish any new funding mechanisms or structures. Instead, it would concentrate on creating action, one community at a time, at that level.