As mobile commerce has been growing massively in recent years, it’s inevitable to talk about mcommerce statistics. It’s no surprise that this new industry has flourished over the last few years, surpassing online desktop shopping.
Mobile commerce, also known as mcommerce, refers to the process of buying and selling products by using mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.
If you are a marketer or retailer and haven’t jumped on the mcommerce bandwagon yet, these fascinating trends will help you understand how this business works, where it’s headed, and why you should join.
Top Mcommerce Stats: Editor’s Choice
- On a global scale, about 3.6 billion used a smartphone in 2020.
- About 85% of Americans are mobile users.
- Nearly 49% of shoppers use mobile devices to buy products and services.
- A whopping 80% of customers check prices on mobile while in a traditional store.
- Black Friday and Cyber Monday are considered the best shopping days by 93% of millennials. (11)
- 52% of sales are brought by mcommerce alone. (13)
- A good 76% of shoppers prefer purchasing on mobile because it’s time-saving. (15)
- The Chinese app AliPay is used by 1.2 billion people on a daily basis. (16)
General Mcommerce Statistics
Consumers are the driving force behind mcommerce. Without them, this industry wouldn’t be such a powerful tool it is today.
The following statistics will give you a clear picture of how many people around the world use mobile devices.
1. There are more than 10.97 billion mobile connections all over the world.
Mcommerce trends demonstrate that this staggering figure outdid the current worldwide population of about 7.86 billion, with a difference of 3.11 billion. This doesn’t mean that everyone owns a smartphone or tablet — instead, more devices belong to one person.
2. According to smartphone user demographics, there were 3.6 billion smartphone users globally in 2020.
Mobile usage is gradually progressing — this figure will most likely reach 4.3 billion by 2023. Thanks to the whopping number of smartphone users, mobile eCommerce growth is constantly on the rise. The countries with the highest number of smartphones are China, India, and the US, with each country exceeding 100 million users.
3. In 2021, mcommerce sales are estimated to reach about $3.5 trillion.
Customers are the core of mcommerce, as they predominantly use smartphones in their everyday lives. Therefore, the mcommerce market size is steadily progressing year over year. In 2021, the industry will experience a 22.3% increase from the $2.91 trillion recorded in the previous year.
4. As of 2019, over 80% of Americans use the Amazon app on their smartphones.
When it comes to online retailing, Amazon is the top name for worldwide online shopping. The latest Amazon statistics reported that the majority of mobile users logged on to the app. As we can see, shopping on mobile has become a habit for many Americans. The second most used app is Walmart, with 46.08% of users scrolling through the app, while eBay ranks third with 33.28% of mobile consumers.
5. The percentage of American consumers using mobile devices is 85%.
The survey conducted by Pew Research indicates that the majority of Americans have a smartphone. Although mobile devices have become an essential part of Americans’ lives, consumers own many other devices. About 77% of them possess desktop or laptop computers, while nearly 53% have tablet computers.
Mobile Shopping Trends
As mentioned earlier, shopping on mobile has skyrocketed, allowing mcommerce to expand increasingly. These trends will show you how important mobile shopping has become for the average consumer.
6. Around 49% of consumers use their mobile devices for shopping.
A study published in 2019 suggests that almost half of consumers use a smartphone for shopping online. Since most worldwide retailers like Amazon and Alibaba are immediately available on mobile devices, it’s only logical that consumers prefer purchasing on these apps. On the other hand, 43% of people buy from PCs and only 8% from tablets.
7. The cart abandonment rate is currently at 94.4%.
Contrary to popular belief, mobile shopping statistics show that customers are abandoning their carts more than ever before. With the onset of the lockdown due to Covid-19, many shoppers kill their time by mindlessly scrolling and adding products to their carts without placing any order. According to mcommerce growth statistics for 2020, the cart abandonment rate showed a steep increase compared to the pre-pandemic period (85.1%)
8. Smartphone users have, on average, a $79.33 order value.
Although mcommerce has seen remarkable growth, this industry still has a lower average order value than traditional commerce. mcommerce trends prove that traditional commerce has the highest average order value at $179.98, followed by tablet order value at $87.01. Smartphone users earn third place with a $79.33 order value.
Online Shopping vs. Traditional Shopping Statistics
Since many people lead busy lives, it’s more comfortable for consumers to buy products online than in traditional stores. Not only is convenience the main advantage, but online shopping saves time, effort, and even money.
9. A staggering 80% of shoppers use mobile devices while in stores.
As demonstrated by mobile browsing stats, the majority of consumers use their mobile phones in a traditional store, and for a good reason. People like to compare prices and see what’s the best deal. Apart from price comparisons, customers look up product reviews and find alternative locations to purchase while in-store.
10. About 47% of Americans buy financial services online.
Online shopping statistics by year demonstrate that financial services are the most popular category in the US. TV and video devices come in second place, with 46% of respondents shopping digitally and 18% in-store. On the other hand, household cleaning products and packaged food and beverages are still primarily bought in-store.
11. Mobile ecommerce stats state that 93% of millennials purchase on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Especially during Black Friday, heading to a store can be a recipe for disaster. Around 58 million Americans place an order online, while 51 million purchase in-store. Millennials are the generation that spends the most during this weekend, with an average of $419.52 per person.
Difference Between Ecommerce and Mcommerce
To put it simply, eCommerce is an umbrella term for purchasing goods online, while mcommerce is a subcategory of eCommerce which mainly focuses on mobile devices. Despite their common goal of making customers’ lives more comfortable, both activities have many apparent differences.
12. Consumers spend 90% of their time on mobile apps.
In the battle of mobile app vs mobile website statistics, the majority of customers use an app, while only 10% browse on a website. Mobile app users spend, on average, 201.8 minutes per month on shopping, while website users account for 10.9 minutes per month. It’s evident that an online mobile purchase on apps is much easier since consumers can access it anytime.
13. Mobile commerce drives 52% of all digital sales.
Mobile payments statistics show that most customers use tablets and smartphones to do their research, but, surprisingly, plenty of them complete their purchases on desktop. Nowadays, the customer journey is mostly omnichannel — shoppers tend to use different devices from window-shopping to the product’s actual purchase.
14. According to mobile shopping statistics, the global mobile commerce market share has increased to around 72.9%.
Every year, mobile commerce share has massively soared from 52.4% in 2016. So, what percentage of eCommerce is mobile in 2021? As this whopping number suggests, shoppers spend roughly three out of four dollars every time they use a mobile device.
15. Nearly 76% of consumers shop on mobile because it’s time-saving.
It’s no surprise that most buyers prefer shopping on mobile rather than any other device. According to mobile web browsing statistics, many respondents agree that shopping on mobile devices is less time-consuming than desktop. Most online businesses need to figure out how to outline the most fitting and time-saving shopping experience for their customers.
Additional Mobile Shopping Trends
16. AliPay is the most used mobile payment worldwide, with over 1.2 billion daily active users.
It shouldn’t come as a shock that the Chinese app AliPay is dominating mobile payments, as China has the highest population in the world. WeChat ranks second, with 1.151 billion daily users. Apple Pay statistics demonstrate that this mobile app comes in third place, with only 441 million daily active users.
17. Only 59% of respondents use mobile banking to pay bills.
The most recent mobile banking statistics claim that Americans primarily use mobile banking to view their account balance, accounting for a massive 90%. About 79% view their recent transactions. On the other hand, hardly 20% of users carry out complex activities, like opening a new account or contacting customer service.
18. About 90% of shoppers complain their mobile experience might be better.
When it comes to customer experience statistics, mcommerce customers encounter many problems with poor customer experience due to the lack of mobile optimization. Many pages load slowly or are difficult to navigate, preventing customers from finding what they’re looking for.
19. According to mobile eCommerce stats, smartphone apps are estimated to generate over $693 billion in global revenue in 2021.
The survey from Statista suggests that this figure will see enormous growth in the upcoming years. Mobile app sales statistics show that the gaming apps with the highest income involve King, Supercell, and Bandai Namco, counting over $40 million of gross sales. On the other hand, the top non-gaming apps are Google, Tinder, and Pandora.
Mcommerce Statistics: The Takeaway
These statistics and trends indicate that, nowadays, mcommerce is the center of the global ecommerce market. This doesn’t mean that offline shopping will come to an end, rather the contrary—the future of mobile commerce is omnichannel, integrating mobile with the offline experience.
As you can see, plenty of consumers use their mobile devices while shopping in-store for various reasons, such as getting inspiration for their purchases.
Frequently Asked Questions
What percent of online retailers now have mcommerce websites?
In today’s digital era, customers prefer purchasing their favorite products and services on their smartphones. With the ongoing pandemic, mcommerce has become the preferred channel for shopping, and it will stay even after the pandemic is over.
So, it’s only natural that more and more retailers are slowly moving on mobile. Many adapted their website for mobile usage to make it more intuitive for customers to navigate. In fact, about 75% of retailers have websites suitable for mcommerce.
What is the fastest-growing mcommerce platform and why?
Although smartphones are the most used device for online shopping, tablets are unexpectedly the fastest-growing mobile commerce platform.
The screen size is much bigger than smartphones, making it more comfortable for buyers to place their orders. In fact, tablets are the perfect middle ground between laptops and smartphones. The device can be accessed from anywhere — just like a smartphone, shoppers can place orders from their couch, restaurants, or while traveling.
What is the difference between ecommerce and mcommerce?
As mentioned earlier, eCommerce is an umbrella term for products and services purchased online, whether on desktop, smartphone, or tablet. On the other hand, mcommerce refers to online purchases solely on mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.
Still, their common goal aims at making customers’ lives more comfortable, without having to run around from store to store. Despite their similarities, mobility, location tracking, and security are the most significant discrepancies between the two industries.
What are the types of mcommerce?
The most impacting-business types of mcommerce services and applications involve finance and payments, catalogs, marketing, tickets and entertainment, games, and healthcare, among the most popular categories.
When considering mcommerce services, native brand apps such as Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify, help customers with transactions and research. Nowadays, even retailers that mainly sell in-store need to offer their customers a mobile experience, as the majority of revenue comes from online shopping.
How many purchases are made on mobile devices?
Nearly eight out of ten people in the US — more specifically about 79% — shop online. However, mcommerce statistics claim that only 15% buy online products and services on mobile on a weekly basis. While 28% of consumers shop on mobile a few times per month, 37% place an order less often, and 20% only buy offline or on desktop.
We can conclude that the biggest percentage of consumers don’t buy frequently on mobile, but only a few times a month.
Sources
Bank My Cell, BrizFeel, Dynamic Yield, Grow Code, J Mango 360, Merchant Savvy, Oberlo, OptinMonster, Outer Box Design, Pew Research, Statista, Statista, Statista, Statista, Statista, Statista, Statista, Today