More than a third of all online sales are now made on a mobile device (smartphones and tablets) as m-commerce continues to increase its share of the UK e-retail market, according to the latest results from the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking.
Key findings include:
• Mobile accounted for 34% of UK e-retail sales in Q1, up from 32% in the previous quarter
• 48% of visits to e-retail websites are now via smartphones and tablet devices
• Click & Collect accounted for 14% of multichannel online sales during Q1
The proportion (34%) is up from 20% in the same period last year and compares with just 1% m-retail penetration during 2010. In fact, the latest findings represent staggering growth of 3,400% in m-commerce penetration over the past 4 years. Visits to e-retail websites via mobile devices are also increasing, with around half (48%), now coming via smartphone and tablet devices. This compares with 30% in the first quarter of 2013 and 45% in the previous quarter.
Other key highlights from the Quarterly Benchmarking include:
• Click & Collect accounted for 14% of multichannel online sales in Q1, down from 16% in the previous quarter. This is in line with the trend recorded last year when the average reached 11% in Q1, down from 12% in the previous quarter.
• The average checkout abandonment rose slightly to 36% in Q1, compared with 35% in Q4. However, clothing and apparel merchants recorded a significantly lower rate of 26% – unchanged from the previous quarter.
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, said: “The latest Quarterly Benchmarking results highlight the increasing importance of m-commerce to online retailers in the UK. The widespread adoption of mobile devices is helping to drive growth in m-retail visits to a tipping point and, although growth in m-commerce itself is settling, this is unsurprising when we consider these results are coming off an increasingly higher base.
“The dip in Click & Collect sales recorded by multichannel retailers during Q1 is a trend we observed last year. We expect this figure to rise during the next quarter before reaching a peak during Q3, when consumers are often looking for ‘immediacy’ in their purchases over the summer months.”
Chris Webster, VP, Consumer Retail and Technology, Capgemini, commented: “These results illustrate just how integral a role mobile now plays in our shopping journey, and one which is only set to increase. Retailers have taken huge strides over the last few years, rapidly evolving their m-commerce platforms to match the expectations of their customers, enabled by the available technology.
“Where retailers once invested in m-commerce platforms to gain a competitive edge, such is the ubiquity of the technology, the playing field could now be considered almost level. Whilst Click & Collect has dropped slightly this quarter, in-line with recent trends, we can expect the delivery channel to become key to retaining brand loyalty as customers will shop around for greater convenience.”
http://www.imrg.org/