M-commerce Continues To Grow Thanks To Tablet Users

A new report claims that m-commerce in the UK owes its significant growth in 2011 to tablet use.

According to new research, mobile traffic reached almost 11% of the total traffic online in the third quarter of 2011. One year ago, it only accounted for 4%, which means that mobile traffic has grown by a stunning 173% over the past 12 months.

The study pointed out that one-third of all mobile traffic came from iPads in this period but the majority of sales were made on iPhones, which still remain the most common device for online shopping. However, figures for the third quarter show that tablet purchases gain on smartphone sales, which now account for 50% in total, compared to 60% last year.

iPod Touches registered the biggest drop in purchases. In 2010, 20% of all mobile sales came from iPad Touches, while in 2011 they accounted for just 3%.

The authors of the study explained that m-commerce habits are changing in 2011, with consumers preferring to research products online while they are in-store and then make their purchases online, too. A number of brands have already taken steps to encourage this trend by installing Wi-Fi in their shops.

The latest research indicates that mobile devices continue to increase their contribution to conversion, or generating a purchase, in the third quarter, with conversion rates reaching 6.6%, up from 1.9% in the same period last year.