Mobile Commerce Statistics: Key Insights

Mobile commerce, or m-commerce, is the act of buying or selling products through the use of a wireless device like a smartphone or a tablet. Essentially, it’s the mobile version of ecommerce, which is where the name comes from.

In recent years, m-commerce has exploded, gaining notable popularity at the start of the pandemic and continuing on to the present day, with even holiday sales largely coming from customer smartphones. As a result, businesses have been doing their best to optimize their websites to ensure that customers are comfortable buying from the palms of their hands.

In this guide, we’ll cover some notable m-commerce statistics, while showing you the benefits of m-commerce optimization and some steps you can take to keep your business up to date when it comes to mobile commerce.

In this guide:

• Top M-Commerce Statistics
• How Big Is the M-Commerce Market?
• What Are the Benefits of Mobile Commerce
• Best Ways to Optimize Your Website for M-Commerce
• Verdict: Should Your Business Optimize for Mobile Shopping?

Top M-Commerce Statistics

Mobile commerce has a lot of potential to change the way you do business. Take a look at some of these notable statistics about m-commerce to help you understand the scope of this movement.

• 79% of smartphone users have made a purchase online using their mobile device. (Source: OuterBox)
• Nearly three out of every four dollars spent on online purchases today is done so through a mobile device. (Source: Oberlo)
• 55% of people who shop on their smartphones made a purchase after seeing a product on social media. (Source: AppInventiv)
• Mobile commerce will make up 42.9% of the ecommerce market in 2024 (Source: Shopify)
• 89% of adults said they use mobile banking, with 97% of millennials indicating that they use mobile banking (Source: Insider Intelligence)

How Big Is the M-Commerce Market?

You may not realize it, but the fact of the matter is that m-commerce has exploded in recent years, particularly since the start of the pandemic. In fact, this most recent holiday season shows just how mobile the ecommerce world has become, with over 50% of all ecommerce purchases during the 2022 holiday season made on a smartphone (Source: OuterBox).

That alone should be enough to get business owners to realize the importance of getting your ecommerce optimized for mobile audiences, particularly because the trend isn’t going anywhere. Research from Shopify, the popular ecommerce website builder, found that mobile commerce volume is expected to hit $620.97 billion by 2024.

Suffice to say, getting your business set up to handle m-commerce could have some serious benefits in the long run. But what are they exactly?

What Are the Benefits of Mobile Commerce?

Now that you realize just how often users shop from their smartphones, it’s time to look into what this trend can do to benefit you and your business. Here are some of the benefits of mobile commerce:

Wider audience

For starters, offering an effective mobile commerce platform can give you access to a much larger audience for your products and services. After all, there were 6.2 billion mobile users in the world in 2021 (Statista), and that number is only going up as time goes on. Enabling a better mobile shopping experience will give you access to all those potential buyers.

Improved analytics

More shoppers means more data points, which will give you a clearer picture of who your audience is and who is most likely to buy, informing your future decisions with actionable data. And with your wider audience, you’ll be able to glean all the information you need to start seriously making some sales.

One-click checkout

Checkout pages are incredibly important when it comes to ecommerce conversion rates, and that’s doubly true for mobile commerce. In fact, one-click checkout can turn your mobile website into a conversion machine, considering 88.6% of American adults have succumbed to impulsive online shopping (finder.com).

Better customer experience

Customers are going to try to buy from your website on their smartphones, whether you want them to or not. Subsequently, having a mobile-optimized page will give them a more seamless experience when trying to buy. And with 73% of customers insisting that customer experience is an important factor in their purchasing decision (PwC), we’d suggest making that a priority.

Omnichannel selling

Sometimes, shopping is a multi-step process that involves research on your smartphone and on your laptop. When your site is mobile optimized, you can provide a seamless shopping experience by making sure that shopping carts, search filters, and other preferences are saved to an account, so users can pick up their spree where they left off.

Best Ways to Optimize Your Website for M-Commerce

Despite all the statistics above that note the importance of optimizing your website and your business for mobile commerce, 90 percent of shoppers say that their experiences with mobile commerce could be better (Oberlo). Subsequently, there is a real chance for businesses to make an impact by prioritizing mobile commerce. Here are some ways you can optimize your website for m-commerce:

Easy navigation

We’ve all browsed the web on a smartphone and can admit that the experience is certainly a bit more difficult to navigate. That’s why, when it comes to m-commerce, it’s key to optimize your site for mobile as much as possible with easy-to-navigate pages and simple interfaces. The last thing you want to do is intimidate your customers out of a purchase.

Simply checkout process

The only thing more intimidating than a hard-to-navigate interface is a confusing checkout page. If customers don’t feel confident while inputting their credit card information, there’s not much of a chance they’re going to make a purchase, so prioritize simple checkout processes when setting up your site for m-commerce.

Limit pop-ups

Pop-ups are the worst no matter where they are, but on your smartphone, they can seriously hamper a seamless experience. If you want customers to actually buy something from your website, keep the pop-ups to an absolute minimum or get rid of them entirely to ensure your customers can browse your products without having to search for a miniscule “X” to continue the purchase.

Personalize the experience

Personalization makes a big impact on any website, with 80% of consumers more likely to make a purchase from a company offering a personalized experience. Subsequently, your mobile commerce platform should embrace personalization, so users don’t feel like they’re missing out when using their smartphone to shop.

Use website builders with mobile editors

Unless you have a dedicated tech team coding your website from scratch, there’s a good chance you’ll use a website builder to get your site off the ground. If you want to make sure you’re set up for m-commerce, finding a website builder with a mobile editor will be key. Wix is our top choice for website builders and has a robust mobile editor that will allow you to add, move, and modify what your site looks like on a smartphone.

Verdict: Should Your Business Optimize for M-Commerce?

In so many words, yes, your business should absolutely prioritize m-commerce moving forward. The trend is clearly sticking around, and the benefits are clear for businesses of all sizes, from wider audiences to improving customer experience. Generally speaking, optimizing for m-commerce should be considered more of a “when” question than an “if” question.

So how can you get started? The best bet is to check out our top small business website builder guides, which recommend some of the top choices on the market based on in-depth research, many of which feature mobile editors specifically designed to help with m-commerce. Our top option for ecommerce is Shopify and our top choice overall is Wix.