Embracing #MobileCommerce
The following is a guest post James Bentham on behalf of Mobile Interactive Group.
With the majority of large retailers in the UK choosing to capitalise on the mobile commerce channel, those who have been left behind are now scrabbling to catch up. Still in its relative infancy, mCommerce has developed quickly throughout 2011 and shows no signs of slowing. The brands who have benefitted most were the ones not afraid to innovate and take some risks.
Amazon and eBay both set up strong mobile presences during 2010 and both have seen huge returns, forging a path for other brands to follow. Amazon optimised their site for mobile phones as well as offering apps for the iPhone and Android operating systems in various territories. They were one of the first to introduce cross platform accounts, with users able to add products to their basket via their mobile phone and then purchase them next time they log in on a computer. eBay’s app enabled both buying and selling processes to take place via a mobile and, via a highly effective user interface, made the application a pleasure to use. This produced some massive sales through their mobile channel, including that of a Lamborghini for $350,000 and a yacht for £150,000.
So what has brought about this necessity for retailers to move into mobile commerce? comScore research states that 10% of women and 17.9% of men in the age group 13 to 44 have attempted to access an online retailer via their mobile. Another survey from YouGov revealed that 25% of consumers said that if they couldn’t access a retailer’s site on their mobile, they would go to a competitor and not try to access that site again.
mCommerce is forecast to grow to over $100bn per annum by 2015, particularly in the UK and Europe which appears to be catching and will likely overtake the US in terms of usage. Mobile transactions are predicted to have jumped from $170 billion in 2010 to $630 billion by 2014. There are plenty of other indicators to indicate now is the time for retailers to go mobile too. Ocado now receives 5% of its orders through its mobile app and US Pizza Hut generated more than $1m just from its first 3 months.
