Cirteo report highlights the rise of mobile commerce throughout the world
The mobile commerce market is growing quickly throughout the world. Globally, retailers are becoming more mobile-centric, taking note of growing smartphone penetration and the increasing demand for mobile services that allow consumers to shop from their devices. A new study from Criteo shows that the state of the global mobile commerce market is quite healthy, with mobile driving aggressive growth in the e-commerce space as well. Notably, mobile shopping is growing most in Asia, where smartphone penetration is accelerating.
Japan is home to the largest mobile transactions
According to the study, Japan holds the highest rank in terms of mobile transactions as a share of overall e-commerce transactions. During the first quarter of this year, more than 50% of all e-commerce transactions came from mobile devices. South Korea falls only slightly behind Japan in terms of these transactions. The United States currently falls below the global average of mobile transactions, which stands at 34% of all e-commerce purchases.
Smartphone penetration leads to an increase in mobile payments
Mobile payments seem to be thriving in Asia because of the moves retailers have made to become mobile-centric. Large companies and banks have shown a great deal of interest in mobile shopping and have devised services that make shopping or issuing payments from a mobile device more convenient. This convenience has become the cornerstone of mobile commerce, and is considered one of its most attractive features among consumers interested in using their devices to shop online and in physical stores.
Retailers will have to take steps to keep consumers engaged
Though mobile payments are on the rise, retailers will have to take steps to ensure that they can maintain their appeal to consumers. Optimizing the mobile shopping experience is, perhaps, the most important step that retailers need to take. Showing support for cross-channel, personalized shopping experiences is also an important issue that retailers may need to address. This is where integration with social networks becomes more important, as these platforms provide retailers with a way to provide consumers with experiences that they favor.
