Retail: In-app purchases increasing as a percentage of digital sales

In their survey of more than 100 UK retail executives, Urban Airship discovered that all (94%) believe they will have a full omnichannel strategy in place within the next two years. Moreover, 80% say they will be allocating at least 21% of their digital budget to mcommerce over the next 12 months.

Currently, 70% already have a mobile app of which 61% have a transaction dedicated app.. The mobile strategy is working - half of the retailers surveyed said between 21% and 50% of online sales now come via a mobile device.

"It's not surprising that in-app purchases are increasing as a percentage of digital sales," says retail specialist, Tim Paterson from Urban Airship. "A growing number of consumers prefer mobile apps to traditional websites. And although more digital transactions still occur outside of mobile apps, it's the crucial pre-shopping interactions taking place via mobile that can have a big impact on the buying process."

Location-based marketing is also on retailers' radars with 83% planning to invest in location-based offers in the next 12 months thanks to the strategy's effectiveness in driving in-store sales.

A recent survey of mobile users across 10 countries, including the U.K., U.S., Europe and APAC, by ecommerce platform provider Episerver discovered that U.K. consumers were the most likely to shop on a mobile device. However, the data showed Brits were more likely to purchase via a mobile web browsers while Americans were more likely to make mobile purchases via a retailer's app.

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Tags: apps, mobile, research, retail, Urban Airship