Mobile shopping to be equivalent of sales in 30,000 UK shops by 2019

Mobile shopping will be worth as much as the amount spent in more than 30,000 UK shops by 2019, according to research from e-commerce partner Webloyalty.

The m-commerce sector in the UK is currently worth £9.7bn, and is expected to grow to a staggering £53.6bn by 2024. Spend on smartphones alone is expected to increase by 243.5% in the next four years, with direct spend on both phones and tablets to increase by over 230%.

The research states that in the UK one in three of people shop via mobile in the office, with 2.8% even shopping during meetings at work. One in ten will also use their phone or tablet multiple times during the day to browse, purchase or review items. 14% of passengers also shop this way on their daily commute, and nearly one in ten (8.2%) even shop via our mobile devices in the bathroom.

The television has become a staple in triggering mobile sales for UK consumers. Not only do the majority of mobile shoppers (59.6%) spend while watching the TV it is also the biggest motivator for encouraging a spontaneous mobile purchase, with TV adverts alone accounting for 16.7% of spontaneous spends.

Guy Chiswick Managing Director of Webloyalty Northern Europe said: “The influential spend as a result of customers browsing on mobile is staggering. Our research found that 41.3% of consumers will buy a product on another device after viewing it on mobile, and a further 11% of shoppers will purchase an item in-store, resulting in £18 million in additional sales for UK retailers. The key message here is for retailers to make the most of mobile – a strong social media presence, targeted personalised emails and the offer of digital wallet payments will aid in the pursuit of mobile sales conversions.”