Mobile commerce in Europe 2015

Mobile commerce is becoming increasingly important in Europe. The continent even has the highest mobile penetration rate in the world. And online spending on mobile devices in Europe has doubled between 2014 and 2015 and now reaches a share of 25 percent. Let’s have a look at the latest trends on mobile in Europe.

Twenga analyzed traffic data on smartphones, tablets and desktops from over 4,000 merchants in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and the Netherlands in order to determine European consumer’s latest trends on mobile.

It becomes clear mcommerce is playing an increasingly important role in Europe. Not only for consumers, but also for online retailers. And after Google has practically forced websites to make their pages mobile friendly, it’s important for those online retailers to focus on mobile. “If this has not been enough to convince us to turn to mobile, the fact that online spending on mobile devices doubled between 2014 and 2015 in Europe should do so”, Twenga posts on its website.

Highest mobile penetration rate
According to its data, Europe has the highest mobile penetration rate in the world. In Central & Eastern Europe it’s 151 percent, while in Western Europe it’s 129 percent. Compare this with North America (101 percent) or East Asia (92 percent). “These figures confirm the potential of mcommerce and the necessity for marketers to adapt to this trend.”

The study also shows that consumers in the United Kingdom are the biggest shoppers on mobile, at least of all the European countries Twenga analyzed. Germany and Spain rank in second and third place and although France is the third largest ecommerce market in Europe, it surprisingly ranks in sixth place.

Smartphone most popular mobile device
Generally speaking, when it comes to mobile devices for online shopping, the smartphone is the most popular device in Europe. Only in the Netherlands, the share of mobile traffic coming from tablets (59%) is higher than that of smartphones. In Spain, the smartphone isn’t exactly popular. This type of device only has a 25 percent share in mobile traffic, with the tablet being three times as popular.

The full infographic can be downloaded on the Twenga website.