Convenience Drives Growing Adoption of Mobile Shopping

Mobile shopping is reportedly gaining ground during this year’s holiday shopping season.

The growth is being driven by the convenience provided by refinements retailers have made to the mobile shopping experience, Reuters reported Friday (Nov. 29).

While consumers used to browse on their mobile phones but go to a desktop computer to make their purchases, that has changed, according to the report.

More consumers are making the purchases on mobile devices because retailers have made the process easier by offering payment methods like Google Pay and Apple Pay, by storing the customer’s billing and shipping information, and by offering personalized suggestions of merchandise, Salesforce Director of Consumer Insights Caila Schwartz said in the report.

The trend is likely to continue as the Generation Z consumers, who were early adopters of mobile shopping, share what they’ve learned with relatives over the Thanksgiving weekend, Minkyung Kim, assistant professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, said in the report.

The mobile shopping experience offered by Amazon is likely to get a boost from the retailer’s launch of its discount store, Amazon Haul, which can only be accessed through the app, Melissa Minkow, global director of retail strategy at CI&T, told Reuters.

The amount of money spent while shopping on mobile devices in November and December is expected to increase 12.8% compared to last year and hit a record high of $128.1 billion, the report said, citing data from Adobe.

More consumers make online purchases via mobile than via computer, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Amazon Web Services (AWS) collaboration, “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Catching the Coming eCommerce Wave.”

The report found that 15% of consumers said they had completed their most recent retail purchase using a mobile device, while only 12% had done so using a desktop computer.

Etsy said in August that it is focusing on mobile engagement due to a broader consumer shift toward mobile shopping. The company was investing in optimizing app store positions, running paid ads for app downloads, and promoting app usage through various channels.

The Etsy app now accounts for a significant portion of gross merchandise sales and is being positioned as the centerpiece of the consumer experience.