Sales through mobile devices have broken the five per cent barrier of total eRetail sales. Thats one of the findings of the latest IMRG Quarterly Benchmark.
Examining Q4, 2011, the report shows that mobile sales accounted for 5.3 per cent of e-retail sales during the period, shooting up from 0.4 per cent in two years – representing a growth rate of 1,320 per cent. Visits to retail sites on mobile, meanwhile, reached 11.6 per cent – up from 8.2 per cent in Q3, 2011.
“The rise in mobile sales for this quarter is massive,” says Tina Spooner, chief information officer at IMRG. “Although it was already growing rapidly, this actually marks an acceleration in pace. This could have been influenced by Q4 covering the Christmas period, where lots of consumers would have got access to a smartphone or Tablet device for the first time. Some retailers actually reported that mCommerce sales accounted for as much as 9 per cent of their total online sales over the festive period.” 
In fact, the only figure that dropped was in click & collect sales, which fell to 9.8 per cent of total online sales following a surge in Q3, 2011, to 10.4 per cent. According to IMRG, its unclear whether this represents a peak in popularity for click & collect, or whether another factor – like not all retailers offering the option during the January sales period – is responsible.
