Mobile shopping to be worth as much as the sales in 30,000 stores

Mobile spending will be the equivalent of the money spent in 38 Westfield Stratford City shopping centres by 2019, according to new research from e-commerce specialist Webloyalty.

The research reveals that by 2019, annual shopping via mobile will be worth as much as the amount spent in 30,005 shops, with spend on smartphones alone expected to increase by 243.5 percent in the next four years, with direct spend on both phones and tablets to increase by over 230 percent.

According to Webloyalty, the m-commerce sector in the UK is currently worth 9.7 billion pounds, and this is expected to grow to 53.6 billion pounds by 2024.

In a survey of over 2,000 UK consumers, the study also found that one in three people shop via mobile in the office, with 2.8 percent even shopping during meetings at work, while one in ten British consumer admitting to using their phone or tablet multiple times during the day to browse, purchase or review items.

The television has also become a staple in triggering mobile sales for UK consumers, with some 59.6 percent of mobile shoppers admitted to spending while watching TV. With those surveyed admitting that the TV was the biggest motivator for encouraging a spontaneous mobile purchase, with TV adverts alone accounting for 16.7 percent of spontaneous spends.

Guy Chiswick, managing director of Webloyalty Northern Europe, said: “The influential spend as a result of customers browsing on mobile is staggering. Our research found that 41.3 percent of consumers will buy a product on another device after viewing it on mobile, and a further 11 percent of shoppers will purchase an item in-store, resulting in 18 million pounds in additional sales for UK retailers.

“The key message here is for retailers to make the most of mobile – a strong social media presence, targeted personalised emails and the offer of digital wallet payments will aid in the pursuit of mobile sales conversions.”