Has mobile penetration plateaued?

The percentage of online sales completed through mobile devices may have reached a plateau, according to new research.

The latest data from IMRG and Capgemini has revealed that in Q1 2015/16 mobile sales were recorded at 42 per cent and stayed at that rate in Q2, marking the first time this has happened.

IMRG and Capgemini have been measuring smartphone and tablet sales penetration since 2010, when just 0.9 per cent of online sales were completed through these devices.Since then it has risen at a remarkable rate, reaching 37 per cent in 2014.

As it was building from a very low base in 2010, the year-on-year mobile sales growth rates in IMRG and Capgemini’s Mobile Index were initially triple-digit and gradually fell to double-digit, as expected with any fast-growing area.

Other data shows that the percentage of visits to retail websites made via mobile devices continues to increase – reaching 60 per cent in Q2 2015/16, up from 58 per cent in the previous quarter.

Tina Spooner, chief information officer, IMRG:

“On the surface it looks like sales via mobile devices have stalled, although these figures alone don’t tell the full story. While tablets currently account for almost three-quarters of sales through mobile devices, sales growth through smartphones is rising at around four-times the rate of that through tablets and conversion rates on both device types are increasing.”

“The rate of mobile growth has slowed down in recent months, but the trajectory of the last five years has been tremendous”, added Alex Smith-Bingham, head of digital, consumer products and retail at Capgemini. “Online sales via mobile devices now equate to 42%, which is a remarkable achievement in such a short period of time and is testament to the central role mobile now plays in our daily shopping journey.”