Look for Dominance by Smart Phones in Mobile Commerce Very Soon, Report Says

The onset of 2017 will usher in the year of the smart phone in e-commerce, according to a projection released Tuesday by eMarketer Inc. The New York City-based researcher says that next year, for the first time, more than half of all so-called digital buyers—51.2%—will make at least one purchase with a phone. Digital buyers are those who perform transactions on Web browsers or in-app, according to eMarketer. That’s up dramatically from 40.8% as recently as 2014 and 45.6% in 2015.

These smart-phone buyers next year will number 95.1 million Americans aged 14 and older, eMarketer projects, compared to 67.2 million in 2014 and 78.3 million last year.

The research firm credits larger screen sizes and more optimization for mobile phones among e-commerce retailers for the sharp increase. “Most shoppers regularly browse and research on their smart phones, but they’re now also making purchases with them,” eMarketer retail analyst Yory Wurmser said in a statement. “As mobile sites become better optimized and screen sizes grow, it’s becoming easier for shoppers to complete the purchase on the smart phone, which will drive m-commerce numbers up for the next several years.”

Indeed, half of all mobile-commerce sales in 2017, or $75.5 billion, will occur on smart phones, the firm predicts. That will come at the expense of tablets, which have been the work horses of m-commerce owing to their larger screens and keyboards. Phones’ share of m-commerce has grown sharply just since 2014, when it clocked in at 35.5%, or $20.1 billion of all retail m-commerce sales, eMarketer’s numbers show.

Other firms have also noted the increasing share of sales on smart phones compared to tablets. Adyen, a Netherlands-based payments processor with major operations in the U.S., said last month that smart phones in the fourth quarter of 2015 beat tablets for the first time in share of all e-commerce transactions on its global platform, 17.5% to 16%.

E-Marketer projects that, overall, mobile devices will account for almost one-third of all U.S. e-commerce volume next year. Their share of total U.S. retail sales, however, will come to 2.6%.

Yet, smart phones still have hurdles to overcome as shopping and payment tools. Many consumers are still abandoning shopping sessions on phones because of the need to click in data on tiny keyboards, e-Marketer says. The firm notes that, while almost 166 million Americans 14 and older will research products on phones this year, they won’t “necessarily complete the purchase on their phone.

Getting the consumer to complete transactions on small screens requires more than mobile optimization, the firm warns. “In order to get people to make purchases on their phones, retailers need to make it as easy as possible for consumers,” Wurmser said. “That means fully optimized mobile Web sites, a checkout process with few steps, and fully personalized merchandising.”