Mobile Spending Doubles in 2013

Bear and Hare2013 closed with a number of records broken for online and mobile retail.

In total, £91bn was spent online in 2013, according to IMRG and Capgemini, 16 per cent growth on a year earlier.

This far exceeded the pairs original forecast of 12 per cent growth, with online now accounting for 21 per cent of retail in the UK. Mobile commerce, meanwhile, grew 138 per cent during this time.

December was a record month for online shopping, with the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index showing 18 per cent growth on the same time a year earlier. £11bn was spent online in December, up from £9bn in 2012.

27 per cent of online sales were mobile in December, worth £3bn, twice as much as 2012. 82 per cent of these sales were made on tablet devices, 131 per cent growth on a year earlier, while, buoyed by growing services like click and collect, smartphone use grew 186 per cent.

“Our customers continue to evolve how they shop, and are increasingly blending stores, online and mobile devices,” said Mark Lewis, online director at John Lewis. “With strong results from our shops as well, December 2013 was a truly omni-channel Christmas.”

2014 is set to be another record-breaker, with 17 per cent market growth forecast for online spending, or £107bn.