UK m-commerce market is small but growing

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 - 14:18 by Mike Price

A new survey, conducted by Yuseo, has looked at the growth of the mobile market as a platform for digital retail in the UK in 2012 and found that while a relatively small proportion of consumers have shopped via m-commerce, interest is certainly higher in the UK than elsewhere.

Thirteen thousand people were questioned as part of the study and just 13 per cent said that they had made a purchase via safe shopping online from their portable device.

While usage is still at the lower end of the spectrum, figures published by IMRG this year, show that sales in the m-commerce industry were up by an impressive 254 per cent in the first quarter of 2012.

The Yuseo report confirmed the findings of other research works, identifying the fact that younger people who are more savvy when it comes to mobile devices, are more likely to have indulged in m-commerce than their older peers.

Interestingly, it seems that those in the UK are more interested in buying physical products via m-commerce and are less keen to splash out on services from their mobiles. Just 40 per cent of those who have used safe shopping online via a portable gadget have paid for services, compared to 53 per cent in an equivalent French study.

Brits are also more susceptible to the branding of mobile apps, with 52 per cent saying that retailers and companies can improve the image of their organisation, if they develop a dedicated m-commerce application for popular smartphone platforms.

Twenty per cent of those questioned in the UK said that they actively use a smartphone to look up the cost of products online, before going to buy them on the high street, which shows how online and real world retail can converge.