Commentary

The Numbers Around Mobile Commerce

Coming to the end of the first quarter of the year, as hard to believe as that is, I thought it time to take a look at the state of some of the numbers around mobile commerce.

Being somewhat of a research stat packrat, I tend to accumulate a lot of mobile commerce nuggets, especially in the course of assembling this publication each day.

So here are some that may catch your eye as they did mine.

  • $55 billion projected to be spent on mobile by retailers in two years, up from $28 billion this year. (Juniper)
  • 32% research and purchase on a smartphone, 47% research and purchase on a tablet. (Lenovo)
  • $20 billion in mobile sales at eBay expected this year, up from $13 billion last year. (eBay)
  • 85% of people would rather go without water than their mobile apps. (Apigee)
  • 52% of smartphone users prefer showing a coupon to a cashier, 24% prefer scanning-based methods. (RadiumOne)
  • 48% growth in mobile payments is expected in the US, going from $18 billion this year to $90 billion in 2017. (Forrester)
  • 59% in the UK use mobile to make online purchases, and 46% always use mobile to research a purchase. ((RedShift Reseach)
  • 40% of UK smartphone owners most popular purchases are for retail goods. (Intela)
  • 51% of US consumers are aware of digital payment providers other than PayPal. (comScore)
  • 57% of group buys from companies such as Groupon, Living Social and Wowcher come via iPhone and 27% come from Android phones. (Affiliate Window)
  • 56% of Americans are happy to spend $10 via mobile. (Intela)
  • 8% of smartphone owners shopped from their phones in a one-month period, compared to 40% of tablet owners. (Experian)
  • $31 billion in US mobile retail sales in 2017, up from $12 billion this year. (Forester)
  • 36% of the US population owns a tablet, 55% own a smartphone. (Deloitte)
  • 18% of French are unable to order dinner without using an app. (Apigee)

Of the forecasts, some will turn out to be true and others we’ll have to wait and see.  

Which ones strike you? Any you’d like to add? 

2 comments about "The Numbers Around Mobile Commerce ".
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  1. Ann Dickerson from Punchh, March 27, 2013 at 8:07 p.m.

    According to a RunningRestaurants/Punchh poll of more than 200 restaurant owners, 70 percent of customers visit a restaurant via word of mouth referrals. Combine that fact with the Forester research that the most popular use of search on mobile devices is to find a restaurant, and that more than 55% of Americans have mobile phones, it just makes sense that restaurateurs should use mobile devices to drive Word of Mouth Marketing.

  2. Chuck Martin from Chuck Martin, March 27, 2013 at 8:12 p.m.

    Now that's another interesting stat, Ann, and an intriguing connection to the Forrester research. Thanks for sharing it.

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About the Author

Chuck Martin is Editor of the AI & IoT Daily at MediaPost and writes the daily Connected Thinking column. He is a NY Times Business bestselling author and his latest book is “Digital Transformation 3.0” (The New Business-to-Consumer Connections of The Internet of Things.) He is CEO of Net Future Institute and a frequent keynote speaker internationally. Follow him on Twitter @chuckmartin and contact him at Chuck@MediaPost.com.