Online growth through mobile devices slows
ONLINE sales growth through smartphones and tablets came to a standstill in the second quarter , suggesting the boom in mobile growth may have peaked, new figures showed.
The amount of sales through mobile devices stood at 42 per cent in the first three months of the year and stayed at that rate in the second quarter, according to the latest monthly figures from industry analysts IMRG and Capgemini.
This is the first time it has remained unchanged since IMRG and Capgemini began measuring mobile and tablet sales in 2010, when just 0.9 per cent of online sales were completed through these devices.
IMRG’s Tina Spooner said: “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 percentage of visits to retail websites made via mobile devices continues to increase – reaching 60 per cent in the second quarter from 58 per cent in the previous quarter.
Ben Carter, marketing director at notonthehighstreet.com, said: “Throughout the second quarter, we’ve seen that the volume of customers using smartphones to purchase from notonthehighstreet.com has steadily increased. Smartphones now account for a significant amount of traffic and continue to drive conversion; it’s clear that they are very much a key component in the online shopping journey for today’s customers.”