CMO

Australians buying more with their phones, new report finds

One in three Australians bought something on their smartphone in last 12 months, new PayPal research finds

Australians are expected to increase their spending on mobile devices by 43 per cent this year to $8.8 billion, according to research released by PayPal and Ipsos.

One in three Australian online shoppers surveyed said they had purchased something via a smartphone in the past 12 months, and 23 per cent said they made a purchase via tablet, the report said.

Mobile commerce was also to be found growing at three times the pace of ecommerce overall, it said.

Globally from 2013 to 2016, the multi-country average compound annual growth rate for mobile commerce is projected at 42 per cent, compared to 13 per cent for overall ecommerce. In Australia, predicted growth of mobile spending between 2013 and 2016 is 204 per cent.

PayPal and Ipsos surveyed 17,500 adults aged 18 and older in Australia and 21 other countries.

The report tracks with recent research by Criteo showing that mobile hit 30 per cent of ecommerce transactions around the world.

Australia has one of the highest penetrations of mobile broadband in the world. Australia came in third place in OECD global rankings for wireless broadband subscriptions per 100 users, with 115 per cent penetration.

Young adults are driving the growth in smartphone commerce, PayPal found. A global average of 59 per cent of smartphone shoppers are 18-34 years old, compared to 44 per cent of total online shoppers.

“We are well and truly entering the mobile-first era,” Emma Hunt, Director of Small Business at PayPal Australia said. “In Australia, one in three PayPal transactions now takes place on a mobile device and globally mobile transactions account for nearly 20 per cent of our total payment volume.”

Adam Bender covers digital marketing and emerging technology for CMO and is the author of dystopian sci-fi novels We, The Watched and Divided We Fall. Follow him on Twitter: @WatchAdam

Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu

Signup to CMO’s email newsletter to receive your weekly dose of targeted content for the modern marketing chief.