Consumer electronics are the product category most frequently purchased via mobile device, according to [sign-in] a report released by Millennial Media and comScore in June 2011. Data from “Mobile Intel Series: Retail” indicates 31% of m-commerce shoppers have purchased a consumer electronics item.
Most M-Commerce Items Retail, Travel-Related
The majority of items purchased via m-commerce were retail- or travel-related, with clothing/accessories coming in second (29%), list, followed by food (26%), entertainment tickets (21%), and airplane tickets (21%). The only items on the list compiled by Millennial Media which were not related to retail or travel were tools/auto/industrial (17%) and sports/fitness (15%).
US, Europe Have Similar M-Commerce Patterns
On the whole, the study finds that there are strikingly similar patterns between US and EU5 (UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain) mobile retail users, with more than 10% accessing retail content almost every day. Similar percentages also access retail content once a week and one to three times per month.
In addition, 62% of both consumer groups access retail content via smartphone, while 63% of US mobile consumers and 59% of EU5 mobile consumers use a browser.
Japanese Engage Less Often, Use Smartphones Less
Japanese mobile subscribers were far more likely to engage with mobile retail content one to three times per month (77%), while only 2% engage with it almost every day. In addition, only 11% of Japanese mobile consumers use a smartphone, while 91% use a browser. However, study data shows Japanese consumers are slightly more likely overall to access mobile retail content than their US or European peers.
Mobile Retail Users More Engaged in General
Study data shows mobile retail users are spending time on multiple content channels, including mobile weather (84%), news (77%), and entertainment content (72%) publishers, among others. What is striking is how much more frequently mobile retail users engage with all forms of content researched by Millennial and comScore as compared to overall mobile users.
For example, only 22% of the total mobile audience visits mobile weather channels, meaning mobile retail users are almost four times as likely to do so. The most extreme difference is found in visitation rates to mobile auction sites, which 64% of mobile retail users but only 5% of the total mobile audience visit, making mobile retail users almost 13 times more likely to visit them.
Other Findings
- In Q1 2011, retail/restaurants was the top mobile advertising vertical both in the US and globally.
- Year-over-year mobile advertising revenue from the retail/restaurants vertical grew 1,342% in Q1 2011.
- There were 6,445 retail entities advertising on the Millennial mobile network in June 2010, more than double 3,045 in June 2009.
Mobile Retail Users More Affluent
Mobile retail users tend to be more affluent than the general mobile audience, according to other study findings. Thirty-four percent of mobile retail users earn $100,000 or more annually, 26% more than the 27% of overall mobile users in this income bracket. In addition, 18% of mobile users earn $75,000 to $99,000 20% more than the 15% of overall mobile users who do so.
About the same percentage of mobile retail users (21%) as overall mobile users (20%) earns $50,000 to $74,000. Below this income bracket, overall mobile users have a larger share.
About the Data: Data was collected by Millennial Media across 67 billion mobile impressions in 250 countries and territories during Q1 2011 and is also from three surveys conducted by comScore in Q2 2010.