The boom of smartphone and tablet based shopping is here and it is predicted to sail this year.
In the first half of 2013, comScore recorded mobile commerce sales as having reached $10 billion in the United States, alone, and that firm’s latest survey data is now suggesting that by the end of this year, that figure could rise to exceed $25 billion.
Last year by the halfway point, the sales over smartphones and tablets had been at $8.3 billion.
For the entire year of 2012, mobile commerce brought in sales worth $20.1 billion. According to the comScore vice president of industry analysis, Andrew Lipsman, in one of his blog posts, within the last year, there may have been an “inflation point” reached. He stated that this occurred as many consumers broadened the use of their smartphones and tablets for use in more “advanced functions”. Among them were transactions for purchases over those devices.
Lipsman stated that mobile commerce is now accounting for one in every $10 in online purchases.
He also went on to explain that mobile commerce sales are growing at a rate that is notably higher than those over traditional online shopping channels. The report from comScore indicated that smartphones are still accounting for the largest amount of money that is spent over these wireless devices. It is assumed that this is because there are simply a far larger number of them in use throughout the American population than there are tablets. However, when individual users are considered, tablet users spend more than those using smartphones.
The data showed that 63 percent of mobile commerce sales originated from smartphones, with the remaining 37 percent occurring through tablets. However, when looking at the individual device user, the average spending was only $47.17 over smartphones, with a notably higher $56.87 over tablets.
The comScore data and projections are aligning with those of other large reputable firms, for the future of mobile commerce growth. For example, eMarketer recently released its own report in which it predicted that by 2017, smartphones and tablets would account for one quarter of all online sales. Similarly, Forrester has predicted that over the next five years, this channel’s sales would reach the $31 billion mark.