If you’re curious about what the state of ecommerce looked like last year, ShopVisible recently released a report that highlights mobile benchmarks, payment methods, shopping channels and more for 2013. What it found was 30 percent of site traffic came from something other than a traditional desktop/laptop, and up to 7 percent of total online revenue came from comparison shopping engines.
“Although it’s been a popular topic in eCommerce (and retail in general) for several years, many retailers have still been reluctant to invest in mobile-optimized versions of their sites,” the report said. “As smartphones continue to become more popular, sites must be equipped with a mobile version specifically made for the smaller screen.”
The report cited a 20 percent increase in mobile traffic during the 2013 holiday season alone. “These numbers are continuing to rise,” said ShopVisible, “and businesses that do not act on mobile site optimization in 2014 may miss out on revenue potential.”
It’s interesting to note the data showed only 4 percent of orders were placed from mobile devices, but of those who placed an order, the order value was on par with those coming from desktop.
ShopVisible said comparison shopping engines like Google Shopping and Nextag increased visibility for websites in 2013:
And online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay accounted for a large chunk of online revenue. “Over 1/3 of ShopVisible’s clients sell on at least one online marketplace, and, on average, 25 percent of their total online revenue is generated through these channels,” the report said.
ShopVisible pointed out the need for ecommerce sites to be well-optimized moving forward.
“Online retailers continue to use traditional advertising (online and offline) to drive traffic to their sites, but recent updates in the search engine landscape make it clear that having sites that are well optimized and regularly updated with content are going to continue seeing the most gains in natural search listings.”