• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 5, 2013

comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni, reports that “… one out of every ten consumer e-commerce dollars is now spent using either a smartphone or a tablet… growth in this segment of the market is outpacing that of traditional e-commerce by a factor of 2x… which itself is growing at rates in the mid-teens,,, “

Measuring M-Commerce with new functionality providing greater detail at the platform level (i.e. smartphones vs. tablets), Fulgoni suggests that m-commerce spending has reached enough of a critical mass that key stakeholders must begin to address this new market dynamic today or risk losing competitive advantage.

M-Commerce spending reached $4.7 billion in Q2 2013 with a growth rate of 24% vs. year ago. For the first half of the year m-commerce spending accounted for $10.6 billion, representing 10% of total digital commerce during that time. With the expected seasonal surge in Q4 spending, m-commerce could surpass $25 billion for the full year.

M-Commerce Spending History
Quarter	Spending ($ Billions)
Q2 2010	$0.6
Q3 2010	$0.8
Q4 2010	$1.6
Q1 2011	$2.4
Q2 2011	$2.6
Q3 2011	$3.5
Q4 2011	$4.9
Q1 2012	$4.5
Q2 2012	$3.8
Q3 2012	$4.6
Q4 2012	$7.2
Q1 2013	$5.9
Q2 2013	$4.7
Source: comScore, August 2013

M-Commerce spending for the first half of 2013 indicates that smartphones drove a considerably higher share (6.0%) of total digital commerce than tablets (3.5%), says the report. While smartphone users outnumber tablet users by a factor greater than 2, the average spending per device owner is actually 20% higher on tablets. This is likely a function of the platform’s higher income demographics and its greater similarity to the desktop experience due to its larger screen size, suggests the report.

The top-ranked product categories in total m-commerce sales for the first half of 2013 were Apparel & Accessories, Computer Hardware, and Event Tickets, while Video Games, Consoles & Accessories showed the highest percentage of digital commerce spending occurring via m-commerce (23.7%).

Share of Total Digital Commerce Spending by Platform (Selected Leading Product Categories Q1-Q2 2013)
Digital Commerce	Share of Total Digital Commerce by Platform
	Desktop	Smartphone	Tablet
Total Digital Commerce	90.4%	6.0%	3.5%
Apparel & Accessories	90.3%	6.2%	3.5%
Computer Hardware	94.5%	3.3%	2.1%
Consumer Packaged Goods	95.6%	3.0%	1.3%
Consumer Electronics	94.4%	2.6%	2.9%
Event Tickets	84.6%	10.9%	4.5%
Source: comScore, August 2013

For more information about comScore M-Commerce Measurement Data, please visit here.