Global m-commerce market growth exceeds expectations

Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 09:52 by Mike Price

More money is being generated by consumer activities on mobile devices than even industry experts had anticipated, according to a new report.

Two years ago analysts at the Yankee Group estimated that by the year 2017, the total economic output of the m-commerce industry on an international scale would hit $2.9 trillion (£1.8 trillion), but this month it was revealed that this figure has been revised upwards to $3.1 trillion (£1.9 trillion) because of unprecedented levels of growth registered in the interim.

The hundreds of billions of pounds which are expected to be spent via safe shopping online from smartphones and tablets in the years to come will not just result in real shifts in the retail sector, but the way that commerce is conducted across the board.

Indeed, the UK is leading the charge for m-commerce adoption, with mobile users eager to spend their cash through smartphone apps and mobile optimised sites.

The figure for the total economic impact of m-commerce activities includes not just the sales of items through safe shopping online, but also the investments in specific applications and services designed for use on portable devices.

Cloud computing will play a part in making mobiles more functional and powerful, without also requiring dramatic increases to the processing and storage capacities of the devices themselves.

The authors of the report noted that while the predicted growth in mobile sales will be good for economies across the world, there will be some trends which rise to popularity for a brief period, only to fail to find long term sustainability.

Of course, consumers are unlikely to cease shopping online from their phones any time soon, so this will continue to shape the market over the coming decades, as yet more technological changes are implemented.