Mcommerce revenues to rise in UK

LONDON: Smartphones and tablets will yield almost $1bn in mcommerce revenues over the Christmas period in the UK, and influence in-store sales with a considerably larger value, a study has argued.

Deloitte, the advisory network, estimated in a new report that £3.5bn of in-store retail sales should be directly attributable to or shaped by smartphones, equating to 10% of the market as a whole.

Within this, the organisation suggested that £330m in acquisitions will be made through devices such as Apple's iPhone or competing offerings like those manufactured by firms including Samsung and HTC.

The role of these gadgets is set to be greater still when it comes to indirectly impacting £3.2bn-worth of purchases, as, for example, consumers research products or compare prices while out shopping.

"As with recent years, the strongest growth will be found online, with purchases completed on mobile phones double or even triple that of last year," said Colin Jeffrey, Deloitte's head of multichannel retail.

More broadly, he predicted that many buyers would opt to use "click-and-collect" services, or ordering items via digital channels and then picking them up in bricks and mortar outlets.

"Those retailers who have invested in this service are in line to do well as these customers spend more and collections drive footfall in to stores," Jeffrey added. "Retailers without flexible collection options and mobile services are failing to meet basic customer expectations and will suffer as a result."

Looking even further ahead, Deloitte stated that smartphones could shape decisions on some £43bn of retail purchases in 2016, or 18% of the market.

In a similar trend, it forecast that £500m in retail revenues will be generated through tablets in 2012, meaning their financial contribution to mcommerce outweighs that of smartphones.

“The rapid adoption of tablets and the high number received as gifts this Christmas will drive a sharp increase in transactions through these devices," said Jeffrey. "However, whilst transaction growth is slower for smartphones, their broader influence is far greater."

Data sourced from Deloitte; additional content by Warc staff, 26 November 2012

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