ComScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni, reports that “… one out of every ten consumer e-commerce dollars is now spent using either a smartphone or a tablet… growth in this segment of the market is outpacing that of traditional e-commerce by a factor of 2x… which itself is growing at rates in the mid-teens,,, “
Measuring M-Commerce with new functionality providing greater detail at the platform level (i.e. smartphones vs. tablets), Fulgoni suggests that m-commerce spending has reached enough of a critical mass that key stakeholders must begin to address this new market dynamic today or risk losing competitive advantage.
M-Commerce spending reached $4.7 billion in Q2 2013 with a growth rate of 24% vs. year ago. For the first half of the year m-commerce spending accounted for $10.6 billion, representing 10% of total digital commerce during that time. With the expected seasonal surge in Q4 spending, m-commerce could surpass $25 billion for the full year.
| M-Commerce Spending History | |
| Quarter | Spending ($ Billions) |
| Q2 2010 |
$0.6 |
| Q3 2010 |
$0.8 |
| Q4 2010 |
$1.6 |
| Q1 2011 |
$2.4 |
| Q2 2011 |
$2.6 |
| Q3 2011 |
$3.5 |
| Q4 2011 |
$4.9 |
| Q1 2012 |
$4.5 |
| Q2 2012 |
$3.8 |
| Q3 2012 |
$4.6 |
| Q4 2012 |
$7.2 |
| Q1 2013 |
$5.9 |
| Q2 2013 |
$4.7 |
| Source: comScore, August 2013 | |
M-Commerce spending for the first half of 2013 indicates that smartphones drove a considerably higher share (6.0%) of total digital commerce than tablets (3.5%), says the report. While smartphone users outnumber tablet users by a factor greater than 2, the average spending per device owner is actually 20% higher on tablets. This is likely a function of the platform’s higher income demographics and its greater similarity to the desktop experience due to its larger screen size, suggests the report.
The top-ranked product categories in total m-commerce sales for the first half of 2013 were Apparel & Accessories, Computer Hardware, and Event Tickets, while Video Games, Consoles & Accessories showed the highest percentage of digital commerce spending occurring via m-commerce (23.7%).
| Share of Total Digital Commerce Spending by Platform (Selected Leading Product Categories Q1-Q2 2013) | |||
| Digital Commerce | Share of Total Digital Commerce by Platform | ||
| Desktop | Smartphone | Tablet | |
| Total Digital Commerce |
90.4% |
6.0% |
3.5% |
| Apparel & Accessories |
90.3% |
6.2% |
3.5% |
| Computer Hardware |
94.5% |
3.3% |
2.1% |
| Consumer Packaged Goods |
95.6% |
3.0% |
1.3% |
| Consumer Electronics |
94.4% |
2.6% |
2.9% |
| Event Tickets |
84.6% |
10.9% |
4.5% |
| Source: comScore, August 2013 | |||
For more information about comScore M-Commerce Measurement Data, please visit here.