Mobile shopping sales to reach $1 trillion by 2015
Written by James West
IT teams failing to build and support user-friendly mobile buying platforms could see the businesses they work for missing out on a $1 trillion shopping spree.
IT industry analyst Yankee Group says that explosive growth in mobile device usage, and the ever increasing power of portable technologies, will see mobile spending increase by more than 50 per cent every year, peaking in 2015 with the $1 trillion predicted total.
Europe is currently leading the way, enjoying 41 per cent of the $241 billion spent globally via mobile commerce in 2011. North America tails with a 35 per cent share, followed by Asia Pacific, which accounts for 22 per cent of transactions.
Banks have the biggest incentive to develop their IT in the mobile space. Yankee states that 27 per cent of all banking customers conduct financial transactions on a mobile device, meaning there are 500 million people globally utilising banking services while on the move who may respond and appreciate other services.
It is possible that Yankees growth predictions for this space are conservative, with 87 per cent of customers around the world yet to sample mobile commerce.