MarketLive announced the results of its Q2 2015 Performance Indexreport, measuring the real-world buying behavior of millions of consumers shopping online during the second quarter of 2015.
This quarter's data show that small-screen shopping experiences are finally engaging enough for mass-market consumers, who purchased 335 percent more via their smartphones than they did in Q2 a year ago. Surprisingly, the retail sectors that showed the strongest uptick in sales from smartphones are Catalog (+374 percent), Brick & Mortar (+207 percent), and Furnishings & Housewares (+163 percent), indicating that traditional retailers are effectively leveraging the digital ecosystem.
"Consumers have shifted their buying patterns to mobile commerce faster than many retailers realize. We're now seeing merchandise traditionally purchased in-store, such as home furnishings, are increasingly being purchased online from smartphones. And, shoppers are seeking out their favorite brick-and-mortar brands online and expecting their websites to work on any device," said Ken Burke, founder and CEO of MarketLive, Inc. "We're calling this trend 'Commerce Anywhere the Customer wants it,' and the more agile retailers and category leaders are outpacing their competitors by constantly adapting to a retail landscape where technology, consumers and markets are evolving at breakneck speed."
Revenue increases and traffic increases from shoppers using smartphones saw triple-digit gains across all retail sectors. Responsive websites and one-click payment options are addressing serious friction points in mobile commerce and making it easier for shoppers to see products, search prices, and purchase whenever and wherever they want.
Other Findings
Other statistics uncovered in the MarketLive Performance Index yield some surprises:
- Brick and Mortar revenues out-paced the overall retail index by 43 percent over 8 consecutive quarters
- Revenues from shoppers on smartphones grew 374 percent in Catalog; 207 percent in Brick and Mortar; and 163% in Furnishings and Housewares
- Traffic from paid search and organic search are declining (-11.7% and -1.5%, respectively) while traffic from e-mail marketing is increasing (+18.1%)
- Total revenues, total visits, and average order size continue to grow (+1.3%, +18.1%, +1.4% respectively) even as conversion rate and cart abandonment remain challenging (-11.3% and +1.9% respectively)
- Key performance indicators for Tablets continue to slip compared to Smartphones: phones now command more than 2x the share of Online Traffic (29.4% smartphones vs. 12.9% tablets) and phones squeezed past tablets for share of Online Revenue (13.1% smartphones vs. 13.0% tablets)
Social Commerce Findings
- Revenue that can be attributed directly to social recommendations are still less than 1 percent of total, but have increased 151 percent with a current Average Order Value (AOV) of $153.20
- Overall social revenue on smartphones increased 136 percent from a year ago
- Overall social traffic via smartphones increased 186 percent
- 67% of social revenue comes from Facebook; 12 percent from Pinterest; and 1 percent from Twitter
Source: Marketlive
