GlobalData: UK Mobile Retail Spend To Double in Next Five Years

As UK consumers increasingly turn to their smartphones for convenience, mobile will continue to be the fastest growing area within the UK retail market with spend increasing by £17.1bn over the next five years to reach £33.2bn by 2024, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s latest report ‘UK Online Mobile & Tablet Retailing 2019-2024’ reveals that mobiles will account for over 40% of online expenditure by 2024, while tablets will lose share as shoppers favour mobiles, causing tablet spend to decline 14.4% out to 2024.

Sofie Willmott, Senior Retail Analyst for GlobalData commented: “Retailer investment in mobile-optimised sites and apps, alongside advancements in technology and the surge in social commerce will all contribute to significant mobile growth over the next few years. Clothing & footwear will be a driving force behind the channel, with mobile accounting for 19.1% of all clothing & footwear expenditure by 2023, up from 9.2% in 2019.”

With over half of online shoppers now purchasing via mobiles, retailers have been forced to prioritise mobile development to provide a smooth shopping journey. 80.2% of online shoppers under 35 have purchased using their smartphone, encouraged by key players such as Amazon, ASOS and H&M that have ensured their mobile channels are easy to use. Tools have been introduced to enhance the browsing experience such as wish lists and visual search, alongside seamless purchase options like Klarna’s ‘buy now, pay later’ and Amazon’s ‘1-click ordering’ which ensure purchasing on a smaller screen is hassle free.

Willmott concludes: “While achieving growth in the UK retail market remains challenging as shoppers hold back on non-essential buys, retailers must respond to changing shopping behaviour and focus their efforts on the mobile channel to capitalise on the shift in spend.”

Source : GlobalData

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