Tag: uk m-commerce

The Barclay brothers owned online shopping group has reported a before tax profits quadrupling.

A recent report that was released by Shop Direct, an online and mobile commerce group owned by the Barclay brothers, and has reported that its before tax profits have now increased by four times, to reach £40.4 million.

The company owns a number of different online shops and saw profits for the first time in 2013.

Among the brands owned by Shop Direct are Very.co.uk, and Littlewoods. Despite that it had been in existence for a decade, the first time that it had ever turned a profit was last year. It has also now reported having seen a sales growth of 3 percent – the equivalent to £1.7 billion, during the year that led up to June 30, 2014.

According to the company, mobile commerce played a very important role in its increasing profitability.

When looking at the figures presented by the company, it is not difficult to understand why it is crediting users of smartphones and tablets to its earnings successes. Its m-commerce took a very large portion of its sales, as a tremendous 44 percent of its transactions took place on some kind of mobile device.

According to the chief executive of the company, Alex Baldock, these are very powerful results and were greatly driven by the increase in sales that took place from mobile devices, especially when it came to the Very.co.uk brand. He explained that “These are strong results, driven by the outstanding growth of Very.co.uk and the unrelenting boom in m-commerce. Mobile continues to be a game changer for us.”

This growth of shopping over mobile commerce at its newer brands such as Isme and Very.co.uk, has managed to offset the declining sales that it has been experiencing at some of its older “heritage businesses”. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) came to £164.8 million after having risen by 24 percent. The group’s largest business is now Very.co.uk, and it boasts sales of over £700 million. This has made Shop Direct another solid example of the way that retailers can evolve in order to embrace shopping over mobile devices.

Research shows on 2% of small businesses are using mobile POS solutions

Despite reports of the meteoric rise of mobile commerce throughout the United Kingdom, the country’s small businesses have yet to show any real enthusiasm for the mobile space. According to new research from the Kalixa Group, only 2% of the UK’s small businesses are making use of mobile point-of-sale (POS) systems. Large businesses, like prolific retail brands, tend to be more accepting of mobile commerce, but smaller companies have yet to see any significant benefit from engaging mobile consumers in an aggressive fashion.

Small businesses may not be able to justify cost of mobile POS

One of the major barriers preventing small businesses from entering into the mobile space is cash flow. Mobile POS solutions allow these businesses to accept mobile payments, but these solutions tend to be somewhat expensive. Small businesses can rarely justify the extra cost of solutions that may not represent a sufficient return on investment. While some studies have shown that mobile consumers are more inclined to spend money when shopping, this may only be the case with larger businesses that offer a wide range of products and not so with specialty retailers and niche businesses.

Companies are opting to focus on digital space rather than support mobile payments

Small businesses are, indeed, interested in engaging mobile consumers, but are not yet willing to embrace mobile payments. Many small businesses are working to bolster their mobile presence by engaging consumers digitally, ensuring that their websites and other digital platforms are mobile friendly. While they are working on engaging mobile consumers on the digital plane, they are also beginning to focus more on mobile security to prepare for a potential future in mobile commerce.

Small businesses concerned about threats of the digital world

Kaliva’s research shows that most small businesses in the United Kingdom are primarily concerned with the security of mobile commerce. Many believe that the mobile space is simply not secure enough, leaving them exposed to significant financial risks. These businesses are beginning to take steps to ensure that they and their customers are sufficiently protected against digital threats.