Study: Mobile holiday shopping on the rise

The 2019 holiday season may prove to be a watershed event for mobile commerce.

According to a new study from mobile commerce optimization platform Button, there was a 68% increase in overall mobile spend per shopper during the 2019 holiday season compared to the same period in 2018. Year-over-year, Button also recorded a 38% increase in total number of orders per shopper, a 106% increase in total number of app installs, and a 12% increase in overall conversion rate. 

Button data also suggests mobile shoppers are getting more comfortable using apps to make their holiday transactions. During Cyber Week 2019, apps outpaced mobile Web when it came to conversions (86% year-over-year increase) and orders per customer (27% year-over-year increase). The entire holiday season also offered a lift on installs: app installs were 46% higher over the holidays compared to the rest of 2019. 

Looking at consumer spending during the 2019 holiday season, shoppers spent an average of $197, a 17% increase from 2018, and their average order value was $59, a 23% increase from 2018. 

“The official start of the commerce era is here. For companies today, the new frontier isn't a battle for browsing or search—it's a battle to be the starting point for commerce,” said Michael Jaconi, co-Founder and CEO of Button. “Companies that control the start of the buyer journey can influence what people buy, where they buy from, and how they pay. Heading into 2020, the companies that lean in on mobile's increasing status as a lean-in, action-oriented platform will emerge at the top.” 

Recent studies from sources including Adobe and Salesforce also reveal strong year-over-year increases in mobile commerce during the 2019 holiday season.

All aggregated, anonymized data is pulled from transactions that took place across Button’s platform from Nov. 24, 2019 – Jan. 3, 2020.