A Brief Idea About the Revenue, Usage, and Statistics
In the last two decades, the internet has impacted every aspect of our life in a way that we had never imagined. Whether we shop, look for information, book an appointment with a doctor, hire a cab for travel or just order some food online, the internet is the medium to connect. It has changed the way we interact, perceive and consume. Today, we can purchase any item from any retailer in the world, and it is possible with the help of the internet. Internet connects people from any part of the world anytime and anywhere as per the choice of the buyers. The reason that we see the eCommerce industry has been flourishing every day.
The advancement that we see in the technology industry is playing a big role in changing consumer behaviour and their pattern of purchasing. If you see around yourself, you will find every person is glued to their smartphones all the time, proving the smartphones has significantly helped in increasing the internet traffic today that generates from mobile devices. From this, one can easily conclude that these mobile users are not just restricted to online browsing, but are also very much engaged in online shopping. It is a testimony to the fact that more than 62% of mobile device owners have made their purchases with the help of their devices.
So, to say it straight, a growing number of buyers are using a mobile device for purchase.
What Can a Business Do in this Condition?
If you own mobile application or planning for one, then you will need to find out the latest mobile trends and techniques and embrace as per your business need. Those who make a purchase using mobile devices, they generally do it using mobile websites or the applications whatever is available or suits them.
There are two main ways for consumers to make purchases from mobile devices. They can buy from mobile websites or directly from mobile applications. Many businesses possess mobile-friendly websites, but they are not very convenient for shoppers. To boost your traffic, sale and revenue, you must have a mobile application.
Here, in this blog, you will find data and statistics, that have been researched to help you decide on launching a mobile application for your online business.
Facts and Figures about m-Commerce
Shopping, using internet via smartphones, laptops, tablets, desktops have now become an integral part of our life. An average UAE resident spends 6 hours per day on their smartphones. Women spend an extra hour every day than their male counterpart. 43% of women claim to be spending more time chatting via social media as compared to the physical conversation. According to many surveys, most of the Emiratis say, smartphones have become part of their daily life, and they feel their dependency is increasing every day. According to a survey done in 2019, there are about 96% smartphone users in UAE compared to 71% laptop/desktop and 28% tablet users. There are about 9.73 million active internet users in UAE, out of which 9.06 million are mobile internet users. Mobile is the most preferred device for internet usage by the people of the UAE. However, phones have progressed from simple texting and talking device to an instant window for shopping enthusiasts. It has been quite some time now that mobile phones have started influencing people in every step of their shopping journey.
Online Shopping in the Middle East
Consumers in the Middle East have enthusiastically adopted online shopping in recent years. The online industry was growing at a faster pace in 2019, and the growing digital and social penetration via smart devices proves that the consumers in the GCC countries are fast moving to mobile commerce and are using digital mediums with many conveniences. Even if key sectors, like food delivery, entertainment, automobile, travel and B2B/C2C eCommerce are kept out, this fiscal year, the eCommerce industry in the MENA region is expected to grow to $28.5 billion by the end of 2020. MENA is the fastest-growing region in the world for eCommerce today with a yearly growth of 25%. UAE and Saudi Arabia are rising as the two key players. According to many reports, online sales in the UAE was expected to reach $16 billion in 2019, followed by Saudi Arabia, at $7.7 billion.
In the world where people are operating and accessing the internet on multiple devices, it is found that people are researching across devices to make online purchases. However, though buyers are having seamless shopping experience across a variety of devices, the studies showing, mobile devices are influencing a larger section of buyers for the convenience users have in handling them. With the emergence of mobile application technology, this trend is growing even faster.
What is Trending Today?
Though mobile websites were not able to make a huge influence on the market, mobile applications are playing a key role in changing the graph of the shoppers’ choice of device for online purchase. Many studies have observed that conversion rates from mobile applications are three times more than mobile websites. It is found consumers who used mobile as a device for purchase spend twice as much money as other consumers. According to several studies, 53% of smartphone users buy from company-specific apps. Some observations have found that by next year 42% of smartphone users are planning to make a purchase using mobile devices. All the above facts and figures conclude that Mobile commerce is on the rise.
Will Mobile Commerce Bring an End to Retail Shops?
Mobile shopping is on the rise, and we can see it across the world. It is inspiring people to buy, but it will be too early to say if it will become a reason that will bring an end to retail shopping. Today, both retail and mobile shopping complement each other. The trend shows, many times people just explore the options in mobile and prefer to purchase in brick and mortar stores. Many buyers always prefer to feel the items that they plan to buy, which is not possible through mobile commerce. However, in the recent COVID 19 crises, we saw a different trend when retails shops were forced to remain closed to avoid the spread of infection, and mobile commerce came as a big rescue even for the consumers who prefer to do traditional retail shopping. People are ordering everything from groceries, to garments, electronics, medicines and everything else over their smartphones. This crisis has proved one thing, ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. The reason we are seeing that retail shops that were doing traditional selling till the crisis hit the world, are now thinking of moving to mobile commerce, believing it can help them survive in a situation like what we saw recently when retail shops had to remain shut for months to maintain social distancing to avoid the spread of infection.
Though retail shopping has its advantages, mobile commerce is influencing an increasing number of consumers for the comfort and convenience it offers to its users. The hectic lifestyle, the chaos in the markets, the demanding workplaces, are compelling people to choose mobile commerce over the shop-to-shop hopping. Moreover, today, almost every other item is available on the mobile. And since users spend more time on mobile compared to markets or other devices today, it is easier for retailers to reach their target audience directly through mobile applications, which allows many user-friendly, and promotional features to prompt users to think of purchasing certain items pushed to them through notifications. One major reason we can see today, more and more companies and manufacturers are preferring to own mobile applications to stay connected with their target audience for product promotion and sale. Additionally, retailers are also using mobile applications to prompt their target audience to visit their shops for broader product options and better purchase deals. Both ways, mobile commerce is emerging as a boon to retail businesses.
M-Commerce is Here to Stay
The growing comfort of mobile users in shopping using mobile devices is an indication that mobile commerce is here to stay. The way both retail shops and mobile applications are complementing each other, we can expect to see more transformation in the consumer market and mobile application development technology. Companies are growingly trying to match the expectation of their potential customers, and in the present conditions, mobile applications are playing a key role in influencing consumer behaviour.