Top 10 Mobile Commerce Trends for Business Success in 2024

Mobile commerce, also known as mCommerce, is booming. Its rapid growth is transforming the retail landscape, making it crucial for businesses to stay updated with the latest mobile commerce trends.

In this article, we’ll delve into the top 10 mobile commerce trends that are set to dominate in 2024. Understanding these trends can help you keep up with the industry, anticipate customer needs, stay ahead of competitors, and drive your business toward success. But first, let’s look at the current mCommerce landscape!

The Current State of Mobile Commerce

Mobile commerce is the use of wireless handheld devices like smartphones and tablets to conduct commercial transactions online. This includes the purchase and sale of products, online banking, and bill payments. It’s a subset of eCommerce and is typically conducted using apps or mobile-optimized websites.

As of 2024, the mCommerce market size is estimated at USD 1.45 trillion. It’s also expected to reach USD 1.99 trillion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 6.54% during the forecast period (2024-2029). 

Further, Business Insider Intelligence also forecasted that mCommerce sales would reach a whopping USD 488 billion in 2024, accounting for nearly half (44%) of all eCommerce sales. This rise also goes with undeniable mobile commerce trends from this year onward.

So what propels the rapid growth of mCommerce these days? The key lies in the increased use of smartphones. With the number of mobile users projected to reach 6.4 billion by 2029 (+30.6% since 2024), mCommerce enables your business to approach a broader customer segment and give them better buying experiences. 

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has strongly accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar retail to digital shopping due to its convenience, fast delivery speed, and even competitive prices.

Top 10 Mobile Commerce Trends for 2024

In this section, Designveloper will introduce the top 10 mobile commerce trends you should focus on when participating in this mCommerce game. Let’s see how these trends are currently transforming this industry and offering insights into its future.

One-Click Ordering

One-click ordering streamlines the mobile commerce experience, boosting conversion rates. Here’s how: traditionally, mobile checkout involved multiple steps, making it cumbersome and time-consuming. This complexity often led to cart abandonment on mobile devices, where screens are smaller and navigation can be trickier.

The 2023 SaleCycle report shows that over 80% of mobile shoppers abandon carts. One-click ordering directly addresses this challenge by simplifying the purchase process. Particularly, this feature stores a user’s payment and shipping information. This removes the hassle of re-entering them with every purchase, making checkout a breeze.

Amazon is a typical example of successfully applying this One-Click Ordering system. By streamlining checkout experiences, the company encourages customers to complete their purchases, leading to higher conversion rates. Some estimations even state that this feature increased Amazon’s sales by 5% annually. 

Voice Search & Shopping

The explosion of voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant has ignited a new way to shop: voice-powered shopping. This technology allows users to make purchases with simple voice commands, offering a convenient and hands-free experience.

Voice shopping isn’t a fad; it’s a fundamental shift in consumer behavior. For this reason, the market is projected to reach a staggering USD 45 billion by 2028, with current spending exceeding USD 3.3 billion. 

This trend significantly impacts mCommerce in several ways.

Firstly, voice shopping aligns perfectly with the growing demand for quick and easy mobile experiences. Today’s consumers crave convenience and speed, and voice shopping eliminates the need for typing, making it ideal for mobile users. In fact, a significant portion (43%) of voice-enabled device owners utilize them for shopping, with the 45-60 age group leading the charge (followed by the 30-44).

Secondly, as voice recognition technology advances, accuracy and efficiency will improve, further driving adoption and potentially making voice shopping the preferred method. 

Interestingly, 51% of voice shoppers use it for product research, while 22% make direct purchases and 17% for reordering. This highlights the growing importance of optimizing your offerings for voice search.

So for businesses, adapting to this trend translates to a competitive edge. By embracing voice shopping early, you can cater to your customers’ demand for instant gratification and a cutting-edge shopping experience.

Mobile Shopping Apps

Shopping via mobile apps has gained significant popularity among prevalent mobile commerce trends. This popularity stems from two key factors:

• Unmatched Convenience: Mobile users crave ease, and mobile apps deliver. Nearly 40% prefer apps because making purchases is faster and simpler. Accordingly, you can browse a store’s entire inventory right from your phone, anytime, anywhere! Plus, over half of smartphone users find apps more rewarding, offering points or loyalty programs that incentivize purchases. 
• Personalized Shopping Experience: Mobile apps go beyond just displaying products. They leverage user data to recommend items that your customers might be interested in. This creates a more efficient and enjoyable shopping journey. One interesting fact showed that a whopping 63% of mobile users are more likely to buy from companies that offer personalized recommendations through their apps.

These benefits translate to significant sales growth. In 2024, US mobile commerce sales are expected to reach a staggering $558.29 billion, representing 7.4% of total retail sales (EMARKETER, November 2023). This surge highlights the potential for massive revenue generation when businesses prioritize mobile optimization.

However, simply having a mobile app isn’t enough. To stand out, it needs to meet user expectations for a seamless experience. 

One study reveals that app abandonment is a significant concern: the number of abandoned apps rose 6% in the last quarter of 2022. The reasons vary. Performance is key – 90% of users ditch apps due to poor performance. Besides, technical glitches and bugs further erode user trust, with 88% abandoning apps that consistently malfunction.

The solution lies in creating ultra-responsive mobile apps. This means prioritizing fast loading times, intuitive navigation, and a user-friendly interface specifically designed for mobile users. By focusing on these aspects, you can keep your customers satisfied, engaged, and coming back for more.

Social Commerce

Platforms such as Facebook and TikTok have not only changed the way we interact but also reshaped our shopping habits. With the integration of social commerce, these platforms enable us to purchase items straight from our feeds.

This makes perfect sense. Social media is a hotbed of product discovery, from brand accounts and influencer content to targeted ads. Shoppable media, like clickable videos or images within social media posts, streamlines the process, taking users from discovery to purchase in a few clicks.

This convenience is driving mCommerce growth. Global social commerce sales hit an impressive USD 992 billion in 2022, and forecasts predict a staggering USD 8.5 trillion by 2030.

To encourage in-app purchases, some platforms offer native checkout tools. Take Instagram Checkout as an example – it allows users to store their payment details within the app. This eliminates the act of filling in information to finalize the transaction when users make a purchase. 

However, SimplicityDX Research found that almost three-fourths of consumers aged 16 to 24 prefer making purchases directly from retailers. So Pinterest has collaborated with Amazon to direct users from its shoppable ads to the corresponding product listing on Amazon for the final purchase.

So to effectively use social media platforms for commerce, your business needs to understand your audience and tailor their strategies accordingly. This could involve leveraging targeted ads to reach potential customers, creating engaging content that resonates with their audience, and partnering with influencers who can amplify their brand message.

When looking at social commerce, you should consider two of its remarkable mobile commerce trends as follows:

Influencer Marketing

One survey revealed that over 50% of US internet users bought a product after seeing an influencer use it, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the pack.

This performance-based approach incentivizes high-quality content creation. Therefore, partnering with influencers allows your business to harness the power of user-generated content (UGC) for advertising. 

Live Shopping

Live streaming is driving mCommerce sales on social media, especially in Asia. This popularity is mainly propelled by its exciting deals, inspiration, and ideas for viewers. 

However, unlike Asia (where over 70% of consumers engage in live shopping), live shopping events with influencers haven’t quite taken off yet in the US. Here, only 23% of viewers purchase products during the event itself. Instead, the majority prefer participating in product challenges/giveaways (36%), asking questions for the influencer to answer (35%), and buying products after the live stream (34%).

Chatbots & AI-powered Assistance

In 2024, Chatbots and AI-powered assistance are revolutionizing mobile commerce. These intelligent virtual assistants provide 24/7 customer service, answer queries, and resolve issues promptly. This significantly enhances customer satisfaction. 

A global survey conducted in 2023 revealed a growing consumer interest in chatbot functionalities. It found that 44% of mobile shoppers valued chatbots for their ability to provide product information before making a purchase. 

Chatbots are also proving to be a valuable tool for business-to-business (B2B) marketers. A survey in the US in October 2022 found that 26% of B2B marketers who incorporated chatbots into their marketing strategies saw a 10-20% increase in lead generation volumes.

Moreover, AI chatbots are capable of learning from past interactions, enabling them to provide personalized product recommendations. They analyze a customer’s browsing history and previous purchases to suggest products that align with their preferences. This level of personalization not only improves the shopping experience but also boosts sales and customer loyalty.

Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR)

In 2024, one of the most significant mobile commerce trends is the rise of VR/AR technologies. These innovative tools are set to redefine the mobile shopping experience by offering customers a unique way to visualize products before making a purchase. 

Take IKEA as a successful example of using these techs in their mobile apps. By integrating AR into their IKEA Place app, they allow customers to virtually place furniture in their homes, ensuring a perfect fit before buying.

By 2024, mobile AR user devices will reach 1.73 billion, generating an estimated revenue of USD 25.84 billion. This rise is propelled by VR/AR’s numerous benefits:

• Increased Purchase Likelihood: According to a Snap report, around 41% of users are more likely to buy from brands offering AR experiences. It’s because these techs provide a rich, interactive experience that helps customers make informed purchase decisions, thereby boosting the likelihood of purchase. 
• Improved User Experience: VR/AR creates a more interactive and engaging shopping experience, leading to 200% higher engagement compared to traditional online shopping. These techs do so by allowing customers to see a product and experience how it’ll appear in their real life. This increases the sense of brand loyalty for about 64% of consumers. 
• Better Conversion Rates: VR/AR offers more hands-on experience for customers. This allows them to better evaluate the product and feel more connected with your brand, hence leading to a 94% higher conversion rate and boosting sales for the business.

Omnichannel Strategy

One of the hottest mobile commerce trends is omnichannel retailing. This strategy goes beyond just selling products; it’s about creating a unified shopping experience across all your touchpoints – mobile apps, websites, and even physical stores. Accordingly, you can seamlessly switch between browsing online and picking up your purchase in-store, or using your phone to check reviews while shopping in person. 

Omnichannel is so crucial for mCommerce success. A 2023 study by Airship and Sapio Research found that nearly 80% of global consumers use a brand’s app in-store to compare prices, read reviews, or access loyalty programs. 

By implementing omnichannel strategies, you can meet them where they are and provide a smooth, consistent experience regardless of the platform they choose. Businesses that prioritize omnichannel engagement see a remarkable 23% higher customer retention rate.

Mobile Payment

The mobile commerce landscape is witnessing a seismic shift towards digital wallets. A recent survey reveals that over half (53%) of consumers now prioritize eWallets over traditional payment methods. 

There are various reasons behind the increasing popularity of mobile payment. Convenience reigns supreme as the top reason (41%). The ability to make transactions swiftly and effortlessly has made mobile payment an increasingly preferred method of transaction.

In addition, rewards and loyalty programs are another significant draw, enticing 22% of users. These programs offer incentives that further enhance the appeal of mobile payment methods.

Prominent digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Wallet have capitalized on these trends, offering users the ability to make payments with a simple tap. 

Mobile payment has become so familiar to customers that a staggering 51% claimed to stop shopping at merchants who don’t accept digital wallets, with younger demographics leading the charge. This highlights the growing perception of digital wallets as a necessity, not just a fad. 

However, mobile payment also has its challenges, with 11% finding it hard to track money spent on their eWallets and 10% worrying about security. So it’s important to advance financial management and security measures for purchases with mobile payment options on your app.

QR Code Integration

Integrating Quick Response (QR) codes closely goes along with other mobile commerce trends: Mobile Payment and Omnichannel. By simply scanning a QR code with their smartphone camera, customers can quickly get the information they need or make a payment. This eliminates the need for manual searches or long queues at checkouts.

The year 2022 saw nearly 89 million US mobile users employing their devices to scan QR codes. This figure is anticipated to surpass 100 million by 2025. Many businesses now recognize the importance of QR codes in mCommerce, hence leveraging this tech to enhance customer engagement and streamline their operations. 

QR codes are also being used to redirect customers to the online store, bridging the gap between offline and online shopping experiences. This seamless integration of physical and digital shopping channels is a key driver of the omnichannel retail trend.

Furthermore, QR codes are being used in marketing campaigns to offer special deals or discounts. By scanning a QR code, customers can unlock exclusive deals, making shopping more exciting and rewarding. This not only enhances the customer experience but also helps businesses increase sales and customer loyalty.

Data-Driven Personalization

Like other mobile commerce trends, businesses today are paying more attention to personalized content powered by data. In fact, 62% of business leaders recognize their personalization efforts as a key factor in enhancing customer retention.

By analyzing user data (e.g., browsing history or demographic information), you can understand the user’s interests, needs, and shopping habits. This information can then be used to personalize product recommendations, promotional offers, and even the user interface of the mobile app.

For example, if a user frequently buys sports equipment, the app can highlight new arrivals or discounts in the sports category. Similarly, if the user often shops in the evening, the app can send push notifications around that time to engage the user.

When users see products and offers that match their interests, they are more likely to make a purchase. Twilio Segment reported that 56% of consumers expressed that they are likely to become repeat customers if given a personalized shopping experience. This level of personalization not only encourages repeat purchases but also increases customer loyalty, further driving sales growth. 

However, it’s important to note that nearly a quarter of consumers felt uncomfortable with their personal data being used for personalization. Therefore, while personalization is key, businesses must also prioritize data security and transparency to maintain consumer trust.

How Designveloper Can Help You Integrate Mobile Commerce Trends

Designveloper is one of the leading names in the tech industry, specializing in software and mobile app development. Our team of seasoned professionals is dedicated to staying ahead of the curve, constantly updating our knowledge and skills to align with the latest mobile commerce trends.

Our expertise in mobile app development is extensive. We understand that a user-friendly mobile app is no longer a luxury but a necessity for businesses. Therefore, we focus on creating intuitive, engaging, and seamless mobile experiences that not only meet but exceed user expectations. 

To achieve this, we utilize a variety of mobile app development tools, including Visual Studio Code, Xcode, React Native, and more. These tools enable us to implement and maintain features effectively, deliver improvements to users significantly faster, and enhance the overall quality of the product.

Apart from tools, we also focus on developing comprehensive mCommerce features to help your business stay competitive in the market. Particularly, we integrate social commerce features into apps, developing immersive VR/AR experiences, and more. All these capabilities can elevate your brand and provide your customers with a unique and interactive shopping experience.

Choosing to partner with Designveloper means choosing a wealth of experience and a track record of success. We have numerous successful case studies (typically Lumin Mobile) that demonstrate our ability to deliver results. But we don’t rest on our laurels. We continually strive to learn, grow, and innovate to provide our clients with the best possible solutions.

Conclusion

The mobile commerce landscape is constantly evolving, and these top 10 trends are your key to staying ahead of the curve in the future. By embracing mobile commerce trends, you can create a seamless and personalized shopping experience that keeps customers coming back for more. Don’t miss out on the future of mobile commerce! Contact Designveloper today for a consultation and see how we can help you integrate these trends into your business strategy and unlock explosive growth.