Tag: mobile commerce

A device to predict the future may not yet have been released, but industry analysts have their own forecasts.

Mobile technology truly solidified itself last year. It was no longer something new or luxurious. It became the standard and the vast majority of people have it. It is the new worldwide norm.

With a new year underway, industry influencers are weighing in with the direction they think 2017 will take.

This year’s mobile technology market will, after all, be taking a new direction. It’s no longer a matter of making itself mainstream. That has already happened. Fresh directions need to be taken in terms of both hardware and software.

The entire concept of “mobile” is expanding. It’s not just a smartphone anymore. Last year planted the seed for the widespread growth of virtual reality, augmented reality, smart home gadgets and even the beginnings of artificial intelligence. So now we’re starting to wonder where that leaves us. In which direction will we take all this smart tech?

Industry analysts are taking a hard look at 2017 mobile technology and have some big predictions.

Among those mobile tech forecasts are the following:

• Changes in “reality” – the stage has been set for virtual reality, augmented reality is already hot (greatly thanks to Pokémon Go) and the iPhone 8 is rumored to be heading in a mixed reality direction. AR, VR and mixed reality are all headed toward more mainstream use.

• Artificial intelligence – we may not yet have reached the point where a robot housekeepers will be moving into our homes, but websites will be getting the next best thing through the more commonplace use of AI-based chatbots.

• Mobile Internet of Things – IoT has been a hot topic for the last handful of years but this year will start to see its use in a much more standard way now that smartphones are in the majority of people’s hands, handbags or pockets. For many, the smartphone is the core of a consumer’s connected life. In 2017, they will become a component of a broader smart environment.

To a certain degree, mobile technology will become so popular that it won’t need the word “mobile” to be used in many areas anymore. Online transactions and interactions will continue shifting away from desktop. The question is whether or not 2017 will bring the world to the point that web traffic is simply assumed to be mobile traffic – no specification needed.

A new Adobe Digital Insights report showed that smartphones played a considerable role in online shopping.

Mobile commerce sales came to just over $24 billion throughout the holiday shopping season this year. In fact, Adobe Digital Insights data showed that smartphones and tablets brought in that amount from November 1 through December 24.

That doesn’t include online purchases made over mobile devices at the last moment before Christmas.

Among all the mobile commerce sales this holiday season, smartphones were behind the vast majority. In fact, 68 percent of m-commerce purchases came from smartphones. Tablets were responsible for the remaining 32 percent. This represents a shift in usage as it looks as though people are now leaning toward their phones when they previously preferred the larger screened mobile devices.

Retail mobile commerce sales from smartphones brought in $16.63 billion, with $7.92 billion from tablets.

During the holiday shopping period, mobile devices were used for 31 percent of online retail sales, said the Adobe Digital Insights data. The remaining 69 percent of online purchases from retailers was through laptops and desktops. Last year, mobile shoppers represented 28 percent of purchases and in 2014, they made 19 percent of the purchases.

Adobe Digital Insights analysts predict that m-commerce will continue to take on a rising share of online sales. In fact, they stated that it is likely that this trend would have kicked in as early as the winding down of the holiday season. The reason is that from December 21 onward, many people were attending holiday functions and were more likely to have a smartphone in hand than to be seated at a work computer.

The report pointed out that the current mobile shopping experience still involves a certain degree of friction. This is primarily the result of the increased challenges involved in filling in purchase forms online. That said, it also underscored the fact that a growing number of retailers are working on improving that experience.

Retail mobile commerce sales could greatly benefit from the reduction of that friction. Some retailers are looking into options such as payment card information capture through the device camera, for example.