In brief
Mobile commerce has become a mainstream e-commerce sales channel. Criteo’s 2016 report puts mobile transactions at 54% of the total for major Southeast Asian retailers and 60% in Taiwan, while apps deliver higher conversion rates and order values. Retailers are encouraged to create seamless mobile and cross-device shopping experiences.
When shopping online, do you use your phone or a PC? As mobile commercebecomes increasingly important within e-commerce, mobile devices and personal computers (PCs) have now reached a crossover point. Digital advertising technology company Criteo today released its mobile commerce report for the first half of 2016, analysing mobile shopping behaviour in the Asia-Pacific region. The report finds that mobile devices have come to dominate the e-commerce industry, becoming its mainstream sales channel.
Criteo noted that as more consumers shop online using PCs, mobile devices or both, the share of transactions conducted on mobile devices has surpassed that of traditional PC-based online shopping.
Across all retailers, transactions conducted on mobile devices grew by 19% compared with last year. In Southeast Asia, major retailers’ mobile sales volume grew by 37% year on year in the first half of 2016 and now accounts for 54% of total e-commerce transactions.
Notably, mobile shopping in Taiwan has already reached 60% of total e-commerce transactions, giving Taiwan the highest mobile shopping share in Asia.
Criteo’s report found that more mobile shoppers are primarily using smartphones. For the first time, smartphones accounted for the bulk of mobile transactions in several major global markets, particularly Asia-Pacific markets such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
In Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Southeast Asia, more than 80% of mobile transactions took place on smartphones rather than tablets. By comparison, 30% of mobile transactions in the United States and the United Kingdom were conducted on tablets, highlighting the prominence of smartphones in these Asian markets. In Indonesia, more than 83% of mobile transactions were conducted on smartphones, leading Southeast Asian countries in both share and growth rate.
Mobile apps also featured prominently in the study. The report found that mobile apps achieved higher conversion rates than other online shopping environments and generated higher order values.
Criteo noted that in the second quarter of 2016, retailers that developed well-designed mobile apps saw the share of transactions through apps rise from 47% in 2015 to 54%. Mobile apps also achieved higher conversion rates than other online shopping environments, with conversion rates three times those of mobile websites.
In addition, order values on mobile apps surpassed those on PCs and mobile websites for the first time. Transactions through apps averaged US$127, compared with US$100 for PC-based online shopping and US$91 for mobile websites.
Asia-Pacific Executive Managing Director Zhang Yifen (張憶芬) said that the growth potential of mobile commerce in the region continued to increase. As retailers continued to invest in mobile shopping platforms, mobile shopping was overtaking personal computers (PCs) in its share of transactions, bringing mobile commerce to a critical tipping point.
She recommended that retailers take the next step by creating truly seamless mobile services and cross-device experiences to encourage more users to complete transactions during the digital shopping journey.
http://www.bnext.com.tw/article/view/id/41321