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There are almost as many mobile phones in the world as people, making mobile commerce the fastest way to get products to market. The Global Payment Trends Report, published by Worldpay, reveals mobile commerce will overtake desktop sales globally by 2023. In the UK, the market is expected to almost double. Currently, the average household has two mobiles phones but at least 16% have four or more. In the workplace, mobile phone ownership can be as high as 100% and a growing number of businesses subscribe to mobile packages for buyers and other senior members of staff.
Doing business on the go is now the norm. The mobile phone means nobody is ever truly away from the office. The rise and rise of the smartphone has led to at least 50% of online searches being made using mobile technology - leading to a 250% rise in mobile commerce sales since 2016. Research conducted by Deloitte suggests one in three UK adults - rising to 50% in 18-24 year olds - check their phones in the middle of the night to read messages and social media posts. This is great news for B2B businesses who want to drive traffic to their websites around the clock.
Comgem, the UK’s number one B2B ecommerce platform developer, says: “One-third of UK smartphone owners look at their device within five minutes of waking up. B2B buyers use their phones to check emails, research products and place orders. It is, therefore, essential that any B2B business using online searches, email and text marketing or social media to drive traffic to their website ensures their online platform is mobile friendly. There is nothing worse than a website not displaying properly on a phone.”
Dani Attard, Comgem’s Commercial Director, points out:
“The power of mobile commerce is underestimated in the B2B sector. It is staggering how many B2B websites are still not optimised for mobile commerce. Yet up to 60% of buyers are using mobile phones - and they expect a great user experience when they visit a website. If your B2B website fails to engage mobile users, it will not benefit from year-on-year growth in mobile commerce.”
Worldpay’s report states mobile commerce is set to increase by 19% every year for the next four years. The value of of the market is likely to hit £1.77 trillion by 2022. Dani says:
“Our own predictions mirror those of this report. We believe 49 per cent of all ecommerce sales in the next five years will be made via mobile devices. At the same time, use of e-wallets will significantly increase."
“B2B businesses should be cashing in on this trend now and ensuring their websites and payment options meet changing customer trends. For global businesses based in the UK, good markets to tap into include Turkey where the mobile commerce sector is set to increase by 31%.”
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