More and more people are buying things on their phone or tablet. This mobile commerce will more than double in the coming years. Forrester estimates that 49% of online retail, travel, and daily deals sales in the EU-7 (France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) will occur via mobile phones and tablets by 2018.
Last year about 20% of online purchases were made on a phone or tablet. These mobile devices not only have influence on e-commerce but also encourages customers to search for information before they buy a product or service in a store. The influence of mobile extends over the entire customer life cycle, according to Forrester’s report ‘European Mobile And Tablet Commerce Forecast, 2013 To 2018‘.
Purchases
Different mobile devices are used for different types of purchases. Phones are used for easy and simple purchases, while are tablets utilized more for research. According to Forrester, tablets will account for 67% of purchases from traditional e-commerce categories such as clothing, household items and groceries in 2018. Phones will be used for products that require less research, such as books, games, and movies.
The average amount that a buyer spends from a tablet (in Europe) was € 346 in 2014. This will be € 517 in 2018. On a phone, that amount was € 107 in 2014 and will be € 169 in 2018.
Channel
The phone is not only a sales channel, says Forrester. The gap between digital and physical shopping experiences is increasingly being bridged by the possibilities of smartphones. 45% of online adults in Europe uses internet via their phone when making a purchase in a physical store.
Featured photo: © Hollandse Hoogte
