New study reveals mcommerce quadruples in two years

Nearly two thirds of consumers (64%) are now using their smartphone device to shop online – four times as many since 2010 – according to new figures.

The latest research results from eDigitalResearch and Portaltech Reply also revealed that 84% of smartphone owners have used their devices to browse websites, with one third (33%) doing so on a daily basis, whilst three quarters (77%) are using their smartphones to research products.

Nearly half of respondents also said they intend to use their smartphone to browse more in the coming months, with one third intending to make a purchase.

The research also revealed that shopping on an online mobile site is still more popular than shopping via a mobile app but transactional retail apps are still a key future development for some retailers.

Derek Eccleston from eDigitalResearch said: “These results confirm that mCommerce has fundamentally revolutionised the way in which we shop and browse. The growth of mobile is completely unprecedented and the rate of change that we’ve tracked over the past two years is alarming.

“Back in June 2010, we predicted that smartphones were likely to play an increasingly significant part in consumer’s busy lifestyles, and whilst in 2011 we found that great strides had been made towards this, these latest set of results demonstrate that this trend is now irreversible. It is therefore essential that all retailers and brands make their mobile channels as accessible as possible to maximise the potential that mCommerce has to offer.”

Mark Adams from Portaltech Reply said: “Smartphone use as a shopping tool has become mainstream and the arrival of 4g and better connected retail outlets will further drive smartphone engagement in the multi-channel shopping experience. We will see a greater use of mobile and tablet applications to support the in-store browsing, sharing and purchasing demands of the mobile 2.0 consumer.”