Mobile commerce has emerged as a new popular trend with shopping through mobile devices growingat remarkable speed in the UK during the last two years as the direct result of the e-commerce
boom, according to the British e-retail association IMRG.In just two years, sales via mobile devices grow from 0.4% of total e-retail sales to 5.3% inthe fourth quarter of 2011 which represents a growth rate of 1,320%. Mobile figures include thosemade through tablet devices.
Visits to retail sites through mobile devices also experienced impressive growth rising to 8.2%in the third quarter of 2011 and to 11.6% in the fourth quarter, compared to 2.6% in 2010. At thesame time, the number of orders cancelled due to fraud dropped to its lowest level recorded in thetwo year period to 1.6% in Q4 from 3.6% in Q1 2010.
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, said: “The rise in mobile sales for thisquarter is massive, hitting 5.3% of total e-retail sales up from 3.9% in Q3. Although it wasalready growing rapidly, this actually marks an acceleration in pace. This could have beeninfluenced by Q4 covering the Christmas period, where lots of consumers would have got access to atablet device for the first time or advanced phone technology such as the iPhone 4S, which wasreleased just toward the end of Q3. Some retailers actually reported that m-commerce salesaccounted for as much as 9% of their total online sales over the festive period. Really good newson the fraud front too, which is probably a result of retailers implementing more sophisticatedfraud prevention systems.”
All the above results are taken from the IMRG Capgemini Quarter Benchmarking Index which is anadditional reporting tool that is open to all participants in the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail SalesIndex. The Quarterly Index tracks over 40 key performance indicators across seven categoriesincluding website performance, customer acquisition & retention, commercial, channel,marketing, order fulfillment and geographical split.
Over 20 retailers are currently participating in the IMRG Capgemini Quarterly Benchmarking Indexincluding Bank, Blacks, Clarks, Co-operative Travel, Crocus, Debenhams, Freeman Grattan Holdings,Home & Cook, JD Sports, John Lewis, Joules, Lyco, M and M Direct, Marks & Spencer, Matalan,Milletts, New Look, Schuh, Scott, Shop Direct & Size.
Chris Webster, head of retail and technology at Capgemini, said: “The growth in mobile paymentsis equally as important as the decline in fraud, which has traditionally been a major concern andbarrier to consumer adoption in this channel. The news that consumers are more willing to engageand are less at risk is welcome.”
