A new study by IBM has revealed that mobile commerce is capturing an ever-increasing share of the online retailer sector in the United States. The investigation discovered that, during the first quarter of 2012, sales via mobile phone accounted for 13.3 per cent of all online sales.
What’s more, the research found that mobile devices were responsible for 17.1 per cent of all visits to retail sites. This is compared to the 6.1 per cent visits from the same study in 2011.
Commenting on the growth in mobile commerce, Craig Hayman, general manager at IBM Industry Solutions, said:
“Over the first quarter, the digitally empowered consumer continued to demonstrate the momentum of the online channel and specifically mobile commerce, which has established itself as a legitimate channel for shopping. Moving ahead, we will help retailers synchronize the demand and supply chains to address issues of product availability and connect to the mobile buyer.”
The increasing popularity of mCommerce is a result of the increased market penetration of smartphones such as the iPhone. Indeed, over 50 per cent of the UK now own a mobile handset of the smartphone variety. But, while companies need to be aware of the growing opportunity in the mCommerce industry, there are other considerations to take into account when discussing the increasing popularity of handsets like the iPhone.
The increased market share of smartphones over feature phones presents both challenges and opportunities for companies. Smartphones give consumers the opportunity to update their social network profiles on the move and email around the clock. Essentially, a smartphone offers the customer the chance to contact a business via a range of new channels at any time.
Companies need to be able to offer their customers the ability to answer messages on sites like Twitter and businesses need a comprehensive social CRM system in place in order to meet the opportunities from this new contact channel. You can find more about customer management systems through Twitter here. Alternatively, contact one of our team to learn more about our social CRM systems.
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