Commentary

Back-To-School Shopping On Mobile Improving

According to a recent study from NetElixir, reported by Daniela Forte, Content Manager, overall ecommerce sales for the back-to-school shopping season, including a strong and continuous trend of consumers using their mobile devices for online shopping, increased by 3% over 2016.

While desktop orders for back-to-school goods were down 3%, says the report, revenue increased by 2%, mobile orders were up by 44%, and revenue from mobile sales rose 4%.

The average order value (AOV) for mobile increased 3%, indicating consumers are more comfortable using mobile for more expensive purchases, says the report. By comparison, while overall order value for the season increased from $96 to $109 in 2017, AOV on desktop orders increased from $127 to $132.

Udayan Bose, Founder and CEO of NetElixir, said “… every year, the spend on mobile keeps accelerating… the gap between AOV on desktop and mobile is decreasing… (though) historically, this gap has been about 30% to 35%... our back-to-school data… (shows) this gap coming down to under 15%... (meaning) that the trend to spend less on mobile is waning… ”

The report says the study also found that consumers are not relying on mobile devices for last-minute purchases as they had previously. In 2017, the study found only one major spike in purchasing from July 31 through Aug. 2. The percentage of mobile sales was constant throughout the back-to-school season, says the report. Looking ahead, the company is forecasting a 10% increase in ecommerce sales growth, down from 11% growth in 2016. 

Bose concludes that “Since we started the holiday forecasts in 2008, we have observed a strong direct correlation between back-to-school sales data and holiday results. The year-over-year growth for the back-to-school season this year is very telling for what retailers can expect for the holidays.”

For additional information from the NetElixer report, please visit here.

 

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