More and more customers are now willing to carry out transactions on smartphones and tablets. Numerous studies have already shown this, but one of the latest reveals that the proportion is now close to 3 out of 10 transactions. While this news comes as no great surprise, it should delight any company that uses e-commerce to boost sales. Here’s a sneak preview of what the study reveals.
Europe ahead of the United States
One aspect that all recent studies confirm is that transactions on smartphones and tablets are far more numerous in Europe than in the USA. The UK leads the way by a wide margin, but it’s a safe bet that the rest of Europe will soon follow suit, especially as the European Union is expected to take further steps to promote online commerce. After Europe and the USA, Asia lags a little behind, with only 20% of transactions on smartphones and tablets, but here too the trend is clearly upwards.
Let’s take a closer look at tablet users
At this stage, tablets are much less widely used than smartphones for online transactions. However, it is interesting to note that the average transaction value is €32.66, whereas it is only €31.19 on a desktop or laptop. A few years ago, we might have expected a tablet owner to have greater purchasing power than the average consumer, but this is no longer really the case. This data on smartphone and tablet transactions should convince the last skeptics of responsive design. SEO parameters and Google’s positioning of your site are one thing, but it’s not just your SEO that’s at stake now.
Growth in transaction volumes on smartphones and tablets
Transactions on smartphones and tablets are on the increase, but it’s interesting to note that they are growing much faster on smartphones. So it’s up to you to decide whether you’re targeting a high-end market or just the average person with their day-to-day expenses, and then to make the right strategic choices. You’re certainly familiar with Google Analytics, so don’t forget that you can clearly see who’s using what to access your site and buy your products. As far as operating systems are concerned, at the start of 2015 it’s still iOS that’s leading the way, however we can see that Android is gradually catching up. Are you surprised by these statistics? Are they close to what you’re seeing on your own site? We’d love to hear from you.
