Shopping from smartphones is rapidly becoming a major driver of ecommerce sales. A recent report from eMarketer.com shows that mobile sales in the US alone are set to reach $123.13 billion (£85.14 billion) in 2016, over a third of total ecommerce sales.
This represents growth of nearly 40 per cent over 2015 and over 100 per cent from 2014.
While sales from tablets still represent a slim majority of mcommerce sales, smartphone sales are expected to overtake them by the end of 2017, the report states. The trend towards larger screens on phones is overcoming people’s previous reluctance to shop on their phones, it appears. Tablet sales are slowing, in part because larger phones and phablets are rendering them less necessary than they once were.
The tech website Dazeinfo gives a list of recommendations for ecommerce retailers based on this report. These include:
- Optimising your ecommerce portal for mobile apps. The trend towards mcommerce means that it will no longer be sufficient for online retailers to place their websites at the centre of their business strategy. Apps will become increasingly important.
- Making searches more effective. In 2015, Google reported that searches on its mobile app had overtaken those on its website for the first time. The easier it is to search for your products or services, the more likely mobile users are to buy them.
- Engaging with your customers. Mobile device users often have phones and tablets stuffed with apps that they hardly ever use. An analysis by US ratings firm Nielsen found that the average US citizen has 27 apps on their phone that they use once a month or less. To combat this, app developers are advised to incorporate a social media element to ecommerce apps, such as integrating it with Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.
