Recently, the performance marketing network Affiliate Window issued a new report regarding trends in mobile commerce, and the observations in the report will come as no surprise to those following the industry.
M-commerce is booming.
Mobile traffic through Affiliate Window’s (“AW”) network is three times what it was a year ago! In fact, a single month of mobile sales was equal to the sales from an entire quarter in 2012. In addition, a new traffic record for iPhone was set in March.
Much of the traffic increase is in smartphones (as opposed to tablets), showing that users are growing more and more comfortable with browsing and making purchases through small devices. This increased traffic from handhelds has still not dethroned the tablets, however. Here is AW’s traffic breakdown by device:
• iPad 40% (of all traffic)
• iPhone 33%
• Android 20%
• BlackBerry 1%
• Other 6%
As you can see, the iPad still has a slight lead on other devices, but the gap is not wide. For those targeting BlackBerry, however, the data show that opportunities remain sharply limited.
For small businesses seeking to publish mobile websites, apps, or that intend to place ads in apps, the above percentages are very important to keep in mind. Optimize for and target Apple devices first, Android second, and everything else third (unless, of course, you have a specific reason to target another niche).
The sales breakdown by device is similar, but shows important differences.
• iPad 60% (of all sales)
• iPhone 20%
• Android 15%
• Blackberry 2%
• Other 3%
iPad is again on top, but this time by a wide margin. However, in terms of sales, Android and iPhone are much closer to each other. Indeed, AW’s report states that a larger and larger percentage of sales come from Android devices, while iPhone’s “share” of total sales is declining. Android devices also have better conversion rates, but from a lower user base.
For those not familiar with sales through M-Commerce, the important takeaways from the report are these:
1. Don’t ignore mobile.
2. Target Apple devices first, Android second.
With regard to the first point, 14% of sales in the AW network are from mobile devices. This means that if your business is selling online, but doesn’t have an optimized mobile website or any mobile ad campaigns running, you’re probably missing out on sales. Mobile traffic takes up an ever-increasing share of all online activity. Those who ignore mobile are simply missing out on extraordinarily cost-effective opportunities to boost sales.
For more information on how to take advantage of mobile traffic and increase sales for your business, please click here.
