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Facebook data points to a promising future for m-commerce (FB)

Facebook M Commerce
Facebook M Commerce

BII

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In a first for the social media giant, Facebook experienced more mobile transactions than desktop over the 2016 holiday season, according to recent numbers from Facebook and Kantar.

Mobile accounted for 51% of online transactions from November 1 through December 31, up from 41% in 2015. Overall, the study outlines the need for retailers to stay ahead of the mobile trend and keep up with where people are spending their time. 

Here are a few other key findings from the study:

  • Mobile devices are fast-tracking the shopping journey for consumers. Of those who completed an online purchase, users who came across retail ads on mobile took approximately 6.7 days to complete their purchase on mobile, which is 1.08 days less (or 13% faster) than those who came across a desktop retail ad and then made a purchase on a desktop device.

  • Facebook still proves to be a valuable platform for retailers. Of US retail shoppers who made a purchase in the three months leading up to August 2016, 30% discovered a new product on Facebook; roughly one-third cited Facebook and Instagram as good places to find out about new products; and one-fifth said Facebook led them to buy a new product online.

The study complements the impressive growth of m-commerce over the last few years. While purchases made on desktop have remained relatively steady over the last two years — e-commerce sales on desktop increased 21% from Q1 2014 to Q1 2016 — growth in mobile commerce has been accelerating. In fact, US e-commerce sales on mobile increased a whopping 114% over the same two-year period, according to comScore. However, mobile still makes up a far smaller share of total online revenue than desktop, which is likely due to the small screens on these devices that can make it difficult to input payment details. As retailers begin to introduce tools intended to reduce this friction, like capturing credit card information via a smartphone camera, mobile may well make up an even greater share of online sales. 

E-commerce has been on the rise in the last several years, thanks in large part to titans in the industry such as Amazon and Alibaba. E-commerce will truly become the future of retail, as nearly all of the growth in the retail sector now takes place in the digital space.

BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, forecasts that U.S. consumers will spend $385 billion online in 2016. Moreover, BI Intelligence predicts that number will grow to $632 billion in 2020.

This is hardly surprising considering e-commerce's healthy growth. Though the U.S. retail average growth rate in the first half of 2016 was just 2% for total retail, it was 16% for e-commerce.

The number of online shoppers has grown by nearly 20 million from 2015 to 2016. And these 224 million shoppers are spending more, as the total amount spent online grew from $61 billion in the first quarter of 2015 to $68 billion in Q1 2016. Finally, these customers are transacting more frequently, as the number of online transactions has risen by 115 million from 2015 to 2016.

But all of this shopping online creates its own set of challenges, both for consumers and the companies that are trying to get their products onto shoppers' screens and into their shopping carts. In short, you need a plan.

And to create your ultimate e-commerce battle plan, you need the right intel.

BI Intelligence is here to help.

Our team of industry experts has you covered on topics such as:

  • Shopping cart abandonment

  • Marketing effectiveness

  • Merchandise returns

  • Customer satisfaction

  • Social media monetization

  • Mobile payments

  • Accommodating shoppers at the 11th hour

  • And much more

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