The Growing Smartphone Popularity Among Retail Consumers

By 2014, worldwide mobile commerce will reach $352.7 billion. The Growing Smartphone Popularity Among Retail Consumers has impacted the change in the U.S. landscape. McKinsey describes the way that consumers make purchasing decisions has dramatically altered: they stand in stores, using their smartphones to compare prices and product reviews; family and friends instantly weigh in on shopping decisions via social media; and when they’re ready to buy, an ever-growing list of online retailers deliver products directly to them, sometimes on the same day.

Millennials are the first group that grew up after the Internet, social media, and mobile became the norm—most have never known a world without them. They will account for nearly one-third of total spending by 2020.5 Even through the economic tumult of the past five years, the spending of millennials has grown by 3 percent a year.

The article also explains that US e-commerce has grown at an impressive clip of almost 18 percent a year  now accounts for 8 percent of total retail sales. US smartphone penetration exceeds 40 percent today and is projected to reach nearly 60 percent in three years. A McKinsey survey of digital shoppers highlighted how mobile technology can complement the in-store experience.

Strong demand for smartphones across all geographies will drive much of this growth as worldwide smartphone shipments are expected to surpass 1 billion units for the first time in a single year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. Google’s Android OS is leading the Android smartphone market. According to Google, seventy-nine percent of smartphone owners are called “smartphone shoppers,” as they use their smartphones at least once a month in retail stores.