Mobile Commerce to Increase 32 Percent This Year

Mobile commerce sales are on track to reach $77 billion this year – an increase of nearly a third over last year, according to a new report from eMarketer. By 2019, the market research firm anticipates sales to be as high as $153.5 billion.

Sales generated from mobile devices currently make up 22 percent of the e-commerce share, with 62 percent of those coming from tablets. By the end of 2015, eMarketer expects that number to decrease slightly as smartphone sales rise to 37 percent.

As mobile shopping becomes more commonplace, more retailers are making an effort to make their websites mobile-optimized. A recent survey by Worldwide Business Research’s digital branch found that 59 percent of retailers consider improving their mobile web experience a high priority.

A responsive e-commerce design was considered the next highest priority, with 35 percent of respondents giving it a 1 on a scale of 5. Mobile payments are also a strong focus. Though 24 percent of retailers gave mobile payments the highest-priority score, 31 percent gave them a 2. Of all the facets of mobile commerce, in-store beacons are considered the least important; nearly a third of the respondents called them “low priority.”

Though responsive e-commerce design is considered hugely important by retailers, critics have denounced the slow loading times that come with it. According to October research from Mobiquity, a company specializing in mobile solutions, 42 percent of consumers consider slow loading times to be the most frustrating aspect of mobile shopping, beating out inconsistent user experience across devices by five percentage points.