Global fashion e-shoppers now 'spend more on mobile than desktop'

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 31, 2019

Mobile has taken over from traditional laptop and desktop computers as the key channel for online fashion shoppers globally, a new report shows. They’re now spending more money on mobile in total, The State of Fashion eCommerce in 2019 report claims.

For the report, mobile means smartphones more than anything else, with tablets counted separately. And given that the study showed that 46% of online sales now go through a ‘mobile’ device, 44% through a traditional computer and the rest through a tablet, that means the combined smartphone/tablet figure adds up to a dominant 56%.

Not that PCs and Macs should be counted out just yet as consumers seem to spend almost 30% less time on a retailer’s website when browsing via mobile, so the opportunities that the greater dwell time on traditional computers present could be signifiant.

So can we rely on the figures? Well, Nosto analysed 1.2 billion visits to fashion webstores around the world last year to come up with its numbers.

And in the process it also found that, aside from actual transactions, 58.1% of traffic to fashion retailers globally happens on mobile, almost double the 31.5% happening on computers, so mobile's status as the key research channel is confirmed.

The report also stressed that mobile is more than just a convenient and alternative channel to desktop, it’s one where consumer behaviour is different.

As mentioned earlier, shoppers spend less time in a site when on mobile and Nosto said retailers need to makes sure their mobile experiences enable their customers to get in and out quickly while also achieving their goals.

That’s perhaps not happening at the moment as conversion on desktop is higher - at 2.4% compared to 1.32% for mobile. Mobile device revenue per visit (RPV) is $1.44, much lower than the $2.76 on desktop. The lesser time spent on mobile (average browsing time of 164 seconds compared to 229 seconds for desktop) might not be about well-crafted mobile experiences, but could be because consumers aren’t getting what they want.

“The fashion retailers in our study are attracting nearly twice as much traffic from mobile as they are on desktop, but this creates a major challenge,” said Nosto CEO Jim Lofgren. “Mobile visitors continue to take less time on site, are spending less per visit and are less likely to make a purchase.”