According to comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni, reports that one out of every 10 consumer e-commerce dollars is now spent using either a smartphone or a tablet. Growth in this segment of the market is outpacing that of traditional e-commerce by a factor of 2x, says Fulgoni, which itself is growing at rates in the mid-teens.
Fulgoni suggests that m-commerce spending has reached enough of a critical mass that key stakeholders must begin to address this new market dynamic today or risk losing competitive advantage. M-Commerce spending reached $4.7 billion in Q2 2013 with a growth rate of 24% vs. year ago. For the first half of the year m-commerce spending accounted for $10.6 billion, representing 10% of total digital commerce during that time. With the expected seasonal surge in Q4 spending, m-commerce could surpass $25 billion for the full year, predicts comScore.
M-Commerce spending for the first half of 2013 indicates that smartphones drove a considerably higher share (6.0%) of total digital commerce than tablets (3.5%), says the report. While smartphone users outnumber tablet users by a factor greater than 2, the average spending per device owner is actually 20% higher on tablets. This is likely a function of the platform’s higher income demographics and its greater similarity to the desktop experience due to its larger screen size, suggests the report.
