Mobile Commerce Inches Upward in Southeast Asia

Mobile Commerce Inches Upward in Southeast Asia
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Purchases on mobile devices make up a key, if still small, share of total ecommerce in the region
Date
Retail & E-Commerce | March 31, 2017

Mobile commerce accounts for growing share of ecommerce transactions in the countries of Asia-Pacific, particularly in Southeast Asia. However, even as consumers increasingly embrace mobile purchase behaviors, research suggests mcommerce still makes up less than 40% of total transactions among digital retailers.

According to a recent study of mobile commerce by Criteo, mcommerce made up 25% of transactions on average in Q4 2015 for retailers in the countries of India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Among Criteo's “top quartile” retailers, meaning the 25% of retailers with the highest percentage of mobile transactions, mcommerce’s share was still just 39%.

Smartphones made up the majority of transactions in Criteo’s study. The personalized retargeting company found that among digital retailers, smartphones accounted for 73% of mcommerce transactions, while tablets accounted for the remaining 27%.

These results more or less match with other studies of mobile users’ research and purchase habits in Southeast Asia. According to June 2015 data from Visa, around 50% of respondents in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand reported they made purchases using smartphones. Among those who reported making a purchase with a tablet, the Visa study found between 13% and 21% of respondents used the device for ecommerce in the countries studied.

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