Mobile now accounts for more than 30% of e-commerce transactions globally, and Asia-Pacific has a high potential for further growth in mobile e-commerce, according to Citreo.
The company's Q4 2014 State of Mobile Commerce Report suggests that mobile commerce is far more ubiquitous than the conventional wisdom assumes.
“There has been a significant lack of information about mobile commerce, leading many marketers to under-estimate the opportunity,” said Jonathan Wolf, Chief Product Officer at Criteo.
“Our report demonstrates that mobile is now about purchasing not just researching, and that there are huge opportunities for e-commerce businesses to capture increasing sales via mobile devices, particularly in the retail and travel industries. For Asia, we expect mobile to cross 50% of all online transactions in 2015, as mobile usage continues to skyrocket and retailers better optimize mobile sites for conversion.”
The report highlights that mobile is now about purchasing, not just researching. Global mobile conversion rates are high, across all devices and retail categories.
Smartphones now generate more transactions than tablets. Asia leads the way in smartphone purchases with close to 45% of e-commerce transactions happening on smartphones, but very little purchasing is being conducted on tablets.
Japan and South Korea are advanced markets for mobile shopping with over 45% of online retail transactions coming via mobile devices. In fact, Japanese e-commerce sites have mobile conversion rates that double the US, and in 2015, Japan and South Korea are projected to generate more than 50% of their e-commerce transactions from mobile.
A third of fashion transactions now come from mobile, with average order values close to desktop levels.