UK Leads the M-Commerce Revolution

New research shows that the UK is leading the m-commerce revolution, with a fifth of all transactions online occurring on a mobile device by the end of 2014. The study, commissioned by vouchercodes.­co.­uk operator RetailMeNot and carried out by the Centre for Retail Research, found that UK customers will have spent more than £8bn on mobile transactions before the end of the year, the highest level in Europe.

Almost half of Europeans now own a smartphone or tablet and, in the UK, around 28% of this number now regularly use their device for making online purchases. Other European countries show similar numbers, with 27% of Germans and 21% of Swedes using mobile devices for online shopping. The forecast mobile spend for the UK of £7.9bn dwarfs the figure of £4.9bn that was spent only last year, representing a fast and massive growth in online purchases using a mobile device.

Giulio Montemagno is the Senior Vice President at RetailMeNot and, commenting on the results of the Europe-wide study, said, "The study shows that mobile is now the key driver behind the growth of e-commerce. While sales made on desktop or laptop computers are expected to grow by 9% in the UK in 2014, they are expected to increase by 62% on mobile devices". He then mentioned the practical applications of study's results, mentioning that in order to "take advantage of this shift, retailers must adapt by optimizing their websites to mobile devices and ensuring payments are secure".

18% (representing one of every five pounds spent) of all online sales in the UK this year will be carried out using mobile devices, compared to a European average of 13%. The UK also lead the way on total mobile web traffic, with over third of this originating from a mobile device. These numbers continue to grow at an exponential rate, driving the m-commerce market ever further forward.

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