mCommerce Rising
mCommerce, mobile commerce, is continuing to grow and is now the fastest growing shopping channel in the United States. New data from Worldpay shows that it grows 15% annually. Smartphones are continuing to find new ownership across American consumers. As that ownership grows so does the number of consumers that switch from shopping on their desktops to shopping on their phones. According to Worldpay’s 2018 Global Payments Report mCommerce makes up 38% of the more than $1.3 trillion in global eCommerce sales. China is the largest source of mCommerce contributing $0.75 trillion to global eCommerce sales. Over the next five years mCommerce is expected to grow 19% to a total of 57% of global eCommerce sales.
“As new devices hit the U.S. market, smartphone ownership is higher than ever. And with overall better functionality, it’s never been easier to make a purchase from the palm of your hand,” says Casey Bullock, general manager, North America, Global Enterprise eCommerce at Worldpay. “U.S. consumers are turning from their desktop to their phones to make purchases. Merchants must find ways to optimize their mobile payment and shopping experiences, whether through their mobile app, mobile wallet or an improved mobile checkout.”
Why
This could be due to a variety of factors. The most prevalent factor is the increasing number of Americans that are preferring to use eWallets. China already has a leg-up on the United States; eWallets account for 65% of eCommerce sales in China. By 2020 eWallets are set to overtake credit cards as the most popular payment method in the United States. Having your main payment method on your smartphone creates an incentive to use it for your online purchases.
Other smaller contributing factors include: millennials’ growing economic presence, the growth in popularity of “invisible payments,” and the instant gratification that has grown popular with services such as Netflix.
Millennials’ global diversity, motivation, and awareness directly influence their thoughts about the businesses they interact with. Businesses that are aware of these tendencies notice the drift towards mobile purchases and can optimize their sites for that. The waste of time at slow checkout stands is a serious negative that can’t exactly be eliminated by physical storefronts. Online shops remove that by having one button that takes care of the entire checkout process. Lastly, faster is better. Services that expedite a process, no matter how small, have an advantage over services that do not. mCommerce is growing at its rapid pace thanks to these, and other, contributing factors.
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