The pandemic’s e-buying trend is expected to make for an explosive digital holiday season.
Mobile shopping in 2020 has taken off at rates far higher than expected as a result of the pandemic crisis around the world. That said, it is expected to continue to break records into the holiday season, according to an eMarketer analysis.
The research indicates that smartphone-based sales will break the $314 billion mark this year.
That means that sales from mobile shopping in 2020 will be over $200 billion higher than they were only four years ago. Moreover, they are expected to represent 44 percent of all e-commerce sales this year.
The pandemic has made m-commerce adopters out of older generations as people are increasingly concerned about their health and are reluctant to shop in brick and mortar stores when contact-free alternatives are available. A recent survey by Sezzle, a buy now, pay later company, determined that the older a shopper is, the less likely they will be to head out to shop in-person in stores over the holiday season. This suggests a dramatic change in the demographic balance of mobile shoppers.
People have become more comfortable with mobile shopping in 2020 and will holiday shop that way, too.
“With this new normal of retail, e-commerce and online purchasing options are going to skyrocket, especially on mobile devices as shoppers prioritize their safety and health,” said Sezzle CRO Veronica Katz. That firm reported that almost 80 percent of its customers are purchasing over smartphones more frequently now than was the case before the pandemic. Retailers rapidly moved online to survive the lockdowns, enabling the fast growth of online and smartphone-based shopping even more.
eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman pointed out that despite the fact that m-commerce has been growing consistently for years, mobile shopping in 2020 still stands out. “Every year, m-commerce spikes slightly in holiday and is accelerated during concentrated activity. With the step change of customers using their mobile devices more often, it will be an extra boost this year.” Retail holiday sales over m-commerce is 
expected to represent nearly a quarter (23 percent) of all smartphone-based purchases this year.
