Does mobile retail have the potential to surpass desktop?

Mobile phone usage is now higher than ever before and has increased by five per cent alone in 2022. On average, adults spend around five and a half hours per day on their mobile phones.

Much of this time is spent browsing social media, with other popular activities including gaming, researching, photography and online shopping.

At present, purchasing goods online is more popular on desktop in comparison to mobile.

Although, there are some sectors where mobile is already more popular, such as the UK slots market, with more players now turning to websites and apps on their smartphone rather than their computer to play games according to slots.info.

Mobile retail is a huge industry and it is expected that by the end of the year 2024, retail sales from mobile commerce will surpass the £100 billion mark in the United Kingdom. Here are look at the current state of mobile retail and whether it has the potential to surpass desktop retail in the years ahead:

Conversion rates on mobile are lower

Visitor numbers for many large retailers is not such an issue on mobile, however the problem comes with trying to secure sales on mobile. Conversion rates refer to the percentage of site visitors that complete the site's desired actions, such as browsing for items, adding them to basket and completing the purchase process.

For mobile, the conversion rates from most online retailers are substantially lower than they are for desktop users. This is perhaps a surprise for some given the increasing use and popularity of smartphones.

In the United States, the conversion rates in the retail industry are at around 3.73 per cent on desktop devices and 1.14 per cent on smartphone devices. The differences are even more pronounced in the United Kingdom with conversion rates for smartphones sitting at just 2.52 per cent in comparison to desktop conversion at 5.15.

There are a number of reasons that customers sometimes feel hesitant to complete a purchase from their mobile phone. For example, many generally have a preference of purchasing on desktop and some are concerned about the privacy of their personal and sensitive data.

Difficulties in navigating a retailer’s site on smartphone can also be an issue as many retailer’s websites are not properly optimised for use on the smaller screens found on mobiles.

Some feel that the process for purchasing on mobile is too long and some also prefer the process of going into a physical store to browse items and making their purchase in-person.

Omnichannel - switching from mobile to computer

Although conversion rates are clearly lower for mobile than they are for desktop, there are more to these figures than what we see at first glance. In actual fact, many people begin the customer journey on mobile.

They may see an ad or search for something they wish to purchase on their mobile phone and browse the different options from there. Once they have narrowed down their choices, this is when they log on to their desktop device at a time convenient to them and complete their purchase from there.

The data taken from looking at conversion rates lacks this important information. In order to gain a better understanding of mobile retail trends, retailers need to stop assuming that mobile site visitors are different from desktop site visitors.  

Cart size is bigger on desktop

The average shopping cart size is 24 per cent larger on desktop and 14 per cent larger on tablet in comparison to mobile. This supports the idea that consumers prefer to make purchases, particularly larger purchases from their desktop computer.

These purchases could include holidays, new pieces of tech or services on subscriptions. Customers are more able to read the terms and conditions on their laptops or computers and the website is more likely to be optimised for these screen types.

Smartphone usage continues to rise for mobile retail

It is not really possible to pinpoint an exact timeline for when (or even if) mobile retail will surpass desktop retail.

The improvement of the mobile experience is likely to have an effect though, for example social media advertising algorithms coming better at predicting what users want to purchase in future could increase mobile site visits.

Also, the continued roll out of the 5G network and smartphones with larger screen sizes is encouraging for consumers wishing to use their mobile phones to complete purchases.

In the months and years ahead, online retailers also need to work with customers to understand and facilitate the omnichannel experience.

This could be through better optimising of mobile websites and improved mobile apps, creating account login so customers can move between devices and through offering choice such as in-store pick up and making payment in-store.