M-commerce still a minority platform for online shopping

Monday, March 3, 2014 - 17:09 by Paul Tissington

A recent study has found that while the proportion of online sales being made from mobile devices is growing rapidly, it is still only a small but incredibly active minority of British consumers that participate in this practice, according to FashionUnited.

The survey was conducted by Fits.me and while 30 per cent of clothing purchases made via safe shopping online originate from smartphones and tablets, this is actually representative of just 15 per cent of the population.

The figures suggest that people who are into using m-commerce platforms do so with incredible regularity, with most other consumers either choosing to buy items from a PC or laptop, or heading to high street outlets for their fashion needs.

Eighty five per cent of respondents to the study said that they tend to use a desktop computer to shop online.

While some might have assumed that younger consumers who are more attuned to technology are the most likely to use m-commerce solutions to buy items, it was actually the 35-44 year olds who were the most prolific smartphone and tablet shoppers.

This could have something to do with the affluence of this age group, as well as the fact that people within this range will also have grown up within the era of the internet?s rise to prominence, as well as the emergence of safe shopping online.

For many retailers, this news may mean that while making mobile-friendly websites and shopping platforms is important, there is no reason to neglect desktop sites, or assume that people are ditching PCs wholesale in favour of migrating to portable gadgets entirely.

The progression of m-commerce from niche shopping solution to a subject of mainstream debate has been quick, but it is still not quite ingrained in the mainstream.