This follows a year of consistently strong growth for mobile, with sales through the channel currently accounting for 27% of online retail sales and 38% of retail site visits.
For the first time, this Christmas IMRG and Capgemini are now able to report on how the sales will be distributed over device types.
The split is currently running at 80 / 20 between tablets and smartphones, which means that the forecast spend by device is £2.3bn and £600m respectively.
Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG: “Mobile devices have fundamentally altered the way that customers engage with brands. The nature of these devices means that there is a wide range of potential engagement contexts, but the major shift really has been toward a uniquely leisurely browsing type of behaviour in front of the TV. The fact that m-retail spend is double that recorded in December 2012 demonstrates just how much this approach to shopping has taken hold this year.”
Chris Webster, VP, Head of Retail Consulting and Technology at Capgemini: “If we thought that the first decade of the 21st century had turned the world of retail upside down, the second decade is likely to feel that we are inside a tumble dryer.
“The growth of m-Retail, driven first by tablet devices but now increasingly by smartphones, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to mobile adoption. The use of smartphones to deliver truly personal, relevant customer experiences which reflect the location and context of what we, the customer, are doing will completely change how we interact with retailers. We had better hang on to our smartphones as it is going to be a bumpy ride.”
