Mobile commerce continues to rise worldwide

Global mobile commerce has seen an explosion in growth of late. Starting with mobile commerce in China, figures show that in the second half of 2012 there were over 55 million ‘m-buyers’, a figure that represents 23% of people that buy online China. This number is up an impressive 136.5% on the previous year. Not a bad result for a country that has 564 million internet users, 420 million of which are also mobile web browsers.

In the United States, sales made from mobile devices are set to grow by 58%, according to eMarketer, who also estimates that some 37.4 billion dollars were spent online this year by 72 million buyers. The study predicts that by 2016, 119 million Americans will be connected via their mobile, an increase of 65% from now. eMarketer estimates that a further 118 million users browse online stores from mobile devices, but ultimately make any transactions from a computer or in-store.

In Europe, 47.6% of the population is connected to the internet via mobile devices, a percentage that could see online sales reach 19.2 billion euros in 2017. A change from 2011 when 1.4 billion euros were spent online. With 7.6 million mobile buyers in Europe in 2011, this figure is expected to grow to 79 million in the next six years, meaning 45% of mobile phone users are expected to use mobile devices to purchase goods online, according to Forrester.

In France, Médiamétrie estimated that 4.3 million French people had made purchases via their phone prior to May 2012, equating to 14% of the total number of people who shop online in France. Sales made from mobile devices increased by 18% between the second and third quarter of 2012, or 150% over the year. 2012 figures published on 24 January by FEVAD (Federation of E-Commerce) should confirm this speculative growth.