UK market leading a global boom in mobile commerce, finds Forrester

Mobile e-commerce revenues across Europe will rise from €1.7 billion in 2011 to €19.2 billion in 2017, going from 1% to 6.8% of total web sales, according to a new Forrester forecast based on 14,000 consumer surveys conducted in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.

Mobile revenues in the various European countries will largely be dependent on the market size, meaning that the UK, Germany, and France will dominate in terms of overall spend. Simple, easy to merchandise categories such as books, DVDs, music, and event ticketing, where mobile-specific features such as immediacy and location can be leveraged, will grow most rapidly.

The report also finds that the UK will lead the pack in terms of mobile revenues. Its large population, high level of online shopping penetration, and its multichannel shopping culture will drive mobile revenues to top €6.1 billion by 2017 – compared to €4.1 billion in Germany, and €3.1 billion in France.

Overall, the European mobile buying population will rise from 7.6 million in 2011 to more than 79 million in 2017, with just over 45% of all mobile users buying via their phone. And while the larger economies will show higher revenue numbers, mobile users in Italy, Spain, and Sweden will demonstrate more sophisticated mobile behaviors compared with their online only counterparts.

Looking at the typical profile of mobile buyers they: own a smartphone, are young, well-educated, technology savvy, and entertainment-driven.

“Mobile commerce is a HOT topic,” writes Forrester analyst Martin Gill in his blog post. “While it may only represent one or two percent of most retailers’ online revenues today, it will grow to be a notable revenue driver over the next five years. It’s time that eBusiness executives stopped talking about mobile as something to do in the future and started enabling great, multi-touchpoint shopping experiences with mobile at the heart.”