Survey: Nearly half of smartphone traffic comes from search

PITTSBURGH — Smartphone users are looking for something. According to a new report from Branding Brand's Mobile Commerce Index, 43% of all smartphone traffic came from search in first-quarter 2015, a 5% increase compared to fourth quarter 2014.

 

According to the report, 27% of smartphone traffic arrived direct; 16% arrived from email; and 14% arrived from referrals.

 

The Index also revealed that Apple devices accounted for 59% of all smartphone visits in the quarter. Visits from users running iOS 8 grew 30%, while iOS 7 dropped 42% from the prior quarter. Google is scheduled to change its search ranking algorithm to weight mobile-optimized sites more heavily.

 

"Search is the leading source of traffic to retailers' smartphone sites," said Chris Mason, Branding Brand CEO and co-founder. "Retailers need to focus on providing mobile friendly experiences that not only convert but can also get found in the first place."

 

The 100 mobile-optimized sites in the study received a total of 280 million visits from January 1 to March 31, 2015 and produced $233 million in revenue. During this time, 28% of all online revenue was generated by mobile devices.