ABI Research believes that 2010 mobile online shopping, excluding travel in the U.S., had more than doubled to total more than $3.4 billion by year's end. Travel-related purchases (airline tickets, hotels, etc.) will add another $1.5 billion.
The short-term growth of mobile online shopping has been nothing short of phenomenal. In the United States, purchases attributed to mobile online shopping, excluding travel, grew from $396.3 million in 2008 to an impressive $1.4 billion in 2009.
In September 2010, ABI Research developed an analysis of the current
mobile commerce merchants in the U.S. For 2010, U.S. mobile commerce sales
are divided as follows:
- Travel 31%.
- Computers/Electronics 20%.
- Apparel 13%.
- Books/Music/DVDs 9%.
- Office Supplies 7%.
- Housewares/Home Furnishings 6%.
- Entertainment Tickets 3%.
- All Other 12%.
Senior analyst Mark Beccue commented, "We are entering a highly innovative and creative period for retail. Mobile online shopping growth in the US has been fueled this year by the massive migration of consumers to smartphones, the explosion of highly innovative use-cases deployed by retailers and third-party players, and a significant shift in consumer behavior as more consumers choose mobile shopping over traditional online shopping."
In Japan, where mobile online shopping has been commonplace for several years, mobile is responsible for nearly 17% of all e-commerce sales. But the success of mobile online shopping will not be confined to the United States and Japan. In 2015, ABI Research believes that mobile online shopping will be responsible for $163 billion in sales globally - 12% of global e-commerce turnover.
Beyond Direct Sales
Mobile marketing practice director Neil Strother adds, "Beyond direct sales generated via mobile, innovative retailers will use mobile online shopping to introduce a broad-range of mobile marketing campaigns and CRM programs."