Last Updated on

November 24, 2023

Mobile Commerce Statistics Unveil Shopping Revolution

Andrew Buck

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eCommerce Apps

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Welcome to the world of mobile commerce, where smartphones have revolutionized how we shop, connect, and engage with businesses. In this article, we explore the latest m-commerce statistics that unveil the incredible growth and potential of mobile commerce.

We’ll look at the current state of mobile commerce, how it has come to dominate the retail world, and how there’s still room for further growth. Later, we’ll finish up with some background on mobile commerce, why it’s only getting bigger, and what you can do to take your piece of the m-commerce market.

Our Top Curated Mobile Commerce Statistics

Data is the best way to understand a growing market, trend or phenomenon. That’s why we’ve trawled through a number of sources to come up with the best pieces of data that explain the state of mobile commerce today.

Here are our top m-commerce statistics, along with an explanation for what these data points mean in context.

Mobile Commerce Sales Keep Going Up

Retail m-commerce sales in the US are approximately $431 billion, projected to grow to more than $710 billion by 2025 [Statista]
Mobile commerce spending makes up 38% of overall digital spending in the US [Statista]
We spend over 100 billion hours per year in e-commerce apps [Data.ai]
More than 180 million people in the US have made at least one purchase on mobile - approximately two thirds of the population [eMarketer Inside Intelligence]
More than half of all online sales during Cyber Week come on mobile [MobiLoud]

The market size for m-commerce is huge; mid-12 figures. And it’s only growing.

Mobile commerce is currently worth more than $400 billion, in the US alone. That number is projected to grow by more than 1.5x in the next two years.

The value of the mobile commerce market is a reflection of how many people now shop on mobile, and how often.

Over half of the US population has made a purchase from a mobile device. And all up, worldwide, we collectively spend 100 billion hours using e-commerce apps (so that’s not to mention mobile shopping websites).

Mobile Commerce is a Convenient Way to Shop

Three out of four consumers make purchases on mobile because it saves time [Dynamic Yield]
74% of US shoppers use their mobile device for product research when shopping in-store [Statista]
Digital and mobile wallet payments account for 49% of online transactions worldwide [Statista]

Why is m-commerce on the rise?

In a word: convenience. It’s far more convenient to shop on mobile. We want to be able to shop anytime, anywhere, without constraints.

Shopping is faster on mobile phones. With the higher standard of mobile shopping apps and websites, there’s little reason to take the extra time to open your laptop or desktop PC when you want to buy something online.

In addition, many of us are using our mobile devices in the shopping process anyway. Even when shopping in-store, 74% of consumers use their mobile phone for product research.

M-commerce just streamlines the product research and buying processes.

Mobile wallets are one more reason mobile commerce is more convenient. They give us a quicker, easier way to pay, and integration with m-commerce apps makes for a smoother, user experience for mobile shoppers.

Mobile Optimization is No Longer Optional

More than 61% of Google Search visits come on mobile devices [Statista]
15% of US adults are mobile-only, meaning they only go online via smartphone [Pew Research]

With the rise of mobile commerce to where it is today, it’s no longer a “nice to have” for retail businesses. It’s a must.

Over 60% of Google searches happen on mobile devices. Worldwide, more people go online on mobile than they do on desktop. And a growing sector of the population is mobile-only.

Mobile is already the preference for most people. And soon, even more people will exclusively use mobile devices to go online. If you don’t have a mobile presence, or your mobile presence is sub-standard, you’ll be leaving potential revenue on the table.

Mobile Commerce = Increased Revenue Metrics

Average order values are 10% higher on mobile shopping apps [Phocus Wire]
Mobile apps have an average cart abandonment rate of 20%, compared to 68% for desktop and 97% for mobile web [Foresight Mobile]
Users view 4.2x more products per session in mobile shopping apps vs mobile websites [Criteo]
Conversion rates are 3x higher on mobile shopping apps than websites [Button]

Though having a mobile presence is a prerequisite for businesses who want to reach their entire target audience, that’s not the only reason to go mobile.

Mobile commerce also performs better than traditional retail and e-commerce.

People spend more per shop in mobile shopping apps. Mobile shopping apps have a significantly lower abandoned cart rate. People view more products when they shop on mobile, and convert at a higher rate.

All this is down to the better user experience on platforms built specifically for smartphone users. These platforms are also built with a conversion focus, leading customers along the path required for them to make a purchase, with fewer distractions along the way.

The data also shows that mobile commerce apps, rather than websites, are particularly effective. We’ll go more in detail on that later.

The Standard for M-Commerce is Higher

12% of consumers find shopping on the mobile web convenient [Dynamic Yield]
57% of shoppers won’t recommend a business if they have a poorly designed mobile website [Sweor]
67% of consumers say “pages and links being too small to click on” makes mobile shopping more difficult [Dynamic Yield]
80% of new shopping app users churn within 4 weeks of downloading the app [Clever Tap]

With the growth of mobile commerce, and more consumers shopping on mobile regularly, mobile users have come to expect more.

Some years ago, we’d be impressed just by the ability to shop and make purchases on a mobile device. Now, that’s a given. We want an optimal user experience. If we don’t get it, there are plenty of alternatives out there.

More than half of us expect a minimum standard when it comes to mobile websites. If a business doesn’t have a decent mobile website, we see that as a negative trust signal.

Despite the overall convenience of mobile commerce, few people actually say that online shopping is convenient on a mobile website.

The biggest reason people find mobile shopping inconvenient is difficulty reading content and clicking links/elements. This is likely due to a large number of sites that are just awkwardly converted mobile versions of a desktop website. Today’s consumers want platforms built specifically for mobile.

Apps often solve this problem. Yet we still have high expectations for online shopping apps, and if the app doesn’t meet this expectation, we will be quick to move on and find a better option.

There’s Still Room in the Mobile Commerce Market

E-commerce app sessions increased by 92% between 2017 and 2021 [Business of Apps]
In 2021, 55% of mobile shoppers downloaded at least one new shopping app before or during the holiday season [Retail Dive]
69.4% of internet users report using shopping apps on phone or tablet [Datareportal]
Amazon is the biggest shopping app in the US, with a total of 35 million yearly downloads [Statista]
44% of e-commerce payments are completed on a mobile device [JP Morgan]
54% of mobile commerce payments happen in an app [JP Morgan]

Despite the growth of mobile commerce, there’s still room in the market.

Between 2017 and 2021, sessions on e-commerce apps almost doubled. We’re using apps more often, and we’re using more apps - especially in high-volume shopping periods, like the holiday season.

Around two-thirds of internet users use shopping apps today. That leaves room for growth, but also means there are a lot of people out there who are comfortable shopping on mobile.

Massive apps like Amazon’s, which generates more than 30 million downloads per year, are the tip of the iceberg for mobile shopping.

According to JP Morgan, nearly half of all e-commerce payments take place on mobile, and a little over half of those mobile payments happen in apps.

With the convenience of paying in apps, with easy, one-click solutions for mobile payments, these numbers are still relatively low compared to what we can expect in coming years.

What is Mobile Commerce?

Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is the buying and selling of products and services on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

It’s an extension of e-commerce - where e-commerce took brick and mortar retail digital, m-commerce is taking online shopping platforms mobile.

Mobile commerce can come in the form of mobile e-commerce websites, mobile shopping apps, or mobile payment solutions, such as Apple Pay, Google Pay and other mobile wallets.

Why Your Company Should Make M-Commerce a Priority

The data above gives you many clear reasons why mobile commerce should be a focus for all retailers today.

M-commerce is on the rise. Mobile sales make up a significant percentage of all online purchases already, and this share is only growing.

More people are going to mobile shopping apps, and using their mobile devices to research products, shop, and make purchases.

Mobile shoppers are also, in large part, more valuable customers for a business. They spend more per shop, they come back more often, they convert at a higher rate, and ultimately provide more value to the business over their lifetime.

With the growth of the m-commerce industry, customers now expect a high-quality mobile shopping experience.

One of our data points from earlier said that over half of us won’t recommend a business to others if they have a poorly designed mobile website.

As time goes on, we’re going to have even higher expectations from businesses in what they provide to mobile users.

If you can’t meet these expectations, your business will be left behind. You’ll become like one of those old, dated websites that clearly looks like it’s from the 1990s.

With so much importance on trust in e-commerce, if your business appears behind the times, you’re going to have a hard time converting visitors into customers.

Mobile Commerce Apps vs Websites

One of the strong mobile commerce trends today is that of mobile shopping apps vs mobile websites.

Despite the overall convenience of mobile commerce, few people actually find it convenient to shop on mobile websites.

There are significant issues with mobile websites, such as.

Layouts and elements clearly designed for desktop, and scaled down for mobile screens.
Incompatibility with touch screens.
Distractions, such as browser tabs, which take away shoppers’ attention.
Browser UI reducing the usable area on the screen (which is limited as it is, on a smartphone).
The need to manually type the URL on a tiny keyboard to get where you want to go.
Inability to use push notifications on all devices.
Poor load speed on many mobile websites.
Inability to use mobile websites offline.

Online shoppers prefer to use apps. They’re easier to use, being designed specifically for mobile. In general, they’re faster, including much faster to open and start shopping, as you can simply get into your favorite online store with one tap from your home screen.

Apps can make use of device features, such as push notifications and location services, to give a more personalized shopping experience.

All this is part of the reason we spend 90% of our mobile usage time on apps, rather than mobile websites.

Why Retailers Should Prefer M-Commerce Apps

The fact that customers prefer apps is a huge reason to offer an app in your business.

But the benefits of mobile apps go even deeper.

App users spend more time shopping than on mobile websites.
App users convert at a higher rate.
Retention is better with apps - an app icon on the homescreen lets you remain in your customer’s mind for longer.
Push notifications give you a powerful tool to get people shopping more often.
The Apple App Store and Google Play Store offer new acquisition channels, along with big trust signals to display to customers.

In short, if you’re selling products or services online, if you can offer a mobile app, you should offer a mobile app.

Luckily, doing this is quite straightforward.

How to Enter the M-Commerce Market in 2023

If you want to enter m-commerce the right way, by offering your own app, MobiLoud is the best way to do it.

MobiLoud lets you convert any website into mobile apps for Android and iOS. It does so significantly cheaper and faster than building custom native apps, but with little to no sacrifice in quality.

The apps you get are fully-functional, synced with your website, and let you offer an incredible mobile shopping experience.

The Rainbow Shops app, built with MobiLoud

Jack & Jones, another internationally-recognized app built with MobiLoud

If you thought that building your own shopping app was too expensive or complex, think again. With MobiLoud, you can go live in as little as two weeks, for less than a thousand dollars invested up front.

MobiLoud also offers handheld support throughout the process, doing all the technical work to bring your apps to life, and managing updates and maintenance after launch. You don’t need to know anything about app development.

Book a time for a free demo call to see how it works, and how it can help you convert your site into a professional, fully-featured mobile app.

Click here to see more case studies from real, successful businesses who used MobiLoud to build mobile apps.

Wrapping Up

M-commerce is the present, and the future.

We’re already shopping on our phones as much or more than we do in person, or on desktop websites. There’s no reason to believe this will change course in the future.

These mobile shopping statistics show just how big m-commerce is. If you have an e-commerce business, you should already be on this wave. If not, you need to get on fast, before your business gets left behind.