By Aimee Chanthadavong
As eBay celebrates the fifth birthday of its mobile application, the company has released a report revealing mobile shopping is only expected to grow.
The eBay New Era of Mobile Report showed 62 per cent of Australians admit to having shopaholic tendencies, which is someone who can’t think of anything else until they have made a purchase or someone who spends all of their time shopping.
eBay Australia & New Zealand’s director of buyer experience Nicolette Maury told RetailBiz mobile behaviour has radically changed over the years and it’s not going to stop here.
“Shop online use to be able shopping at a desktop but now having a mobile device with you all the time people can browse and get inspiration and so you can shop wherever you are and buy it right there and then,” she said.
“The second would be is this change is not going away. What we’re starting to see it increasingly buyers are using multiple devices. They’re browsing on their mobile devices on the bus and then are looking at it on their PC and then may decide to browse some more with their table on the couch. Research shows two thirds of consumers are shopping across multiple screens and this behaviour is accelerating.
“The third thing is mobile innovation is going to keep happening and will fuse online and offline together. We’re seeing more areas that have shoppable screens, such as on a high street retailer. We’re currently working with Kate Spade overseas that will allow consumers to browse on the shopfront using a touchscreen window and order the product.”
The most interesting finding from the report is Australians spend the most as a percentage of sales on their mobile than any other market.
Maury believes the key reason behind this is because retailers are “leapfrogging” from having a bricks and mortar store to having a mobile app.
“Australians are ahead in the mobile space. What we’re seeing is retailers who haven’t been part of the e-commerce space are leapfrogging to having a mobile store first instead of setting up an e-commerce site,” she said.
Other results of the report include eBay’s prediction that $20 billion worth of transactions will take place through the eBay App globally.
“The first thing eBay invests in is mobile so our retailers don’t have to. If I’m talking to retailers or eBay sellers 50 per cent of sales are coming through a mobile device which many are surprised about. So if your website is not optimised for mobile you’re behind already,” Maury said.
“The key thing they need to focus on first and foremost is fabulous image as most purchases are image driven. Also make sure you’re looking at your mobile site through multiple devices and play the customer role.
“I think the key point on mobile technology is it gives retailers more opportunity to engage with their customers and eBay’s role is help and enable them to make that connection.”