Mobile Commerce To Break $250B By 2020

After something of a slow start, mobile eCommerce is set to make up half of all online sales by the year 2020 — worth nearly $250 billion annually.

That forecast comes care of “A Mobile Mindset,” the second volume in the five-part series, “The 2017 UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper.” The UPS-backed report is derived from the input of over 5,189 comScore panelists who made at least two online purchases in a typical three-month period.

The survey projects that mobile eCommerce sales will represent 48.5 percent of all retail eCommerce sales by the year 2020. The bulk of those transactions will come on smartphones — 17 percent of all transactions will be started there, according to the data — and millennials will be responsible for the switch, as they currently represent some 66 percent of mobile purchases.

“In terms of discretionary spending, mobile commerce (mCommerce) growth is far outpacing eCommerce and brick-and-mortar [sales],” the study said.

The change comes as one-click checkout has become more prominent on both mobile sites and within apps, and as consumers have developed an increasing level of comfort using mobile — a tool not just for discovery, but for actually completing purchases.

“Over the past five years, shoppers have simply become more comfortable using their mobile devices to research and buy online, resulting in more time and money channeled via mCommerce,” the study continued. “The projections for continued growth in mCommerce make it essential that retailers of all sizes be properly positioned to provide an optimal experience via mobile devices.”