According to a new report from Forrester Research, “US Mobile Phone and Tablet Forecast, 2013 to 2018,” smartphone-enabled retail sales will total USD 26 billion this year, or 9 % of total ecommerce sales. By 2016, smartphone retail sales will reach USD 37 billion, or 11 % of total ecommerce sales, with smartphone retail sales remaining at 11 % of total ecommerce sales in 2017 and 2018.
Tablet-enabled sales for retail and daily deals websites are expected to be USD 61 billion this year, or 21 % of total ecommerce sales. The overall volume and percentage will continue to grow during the forecast period, with tablets expected to account for USD 176 billion in sales by 2018, or 42 % of total ecommerce sales.
The report estimates that USD 38 billion of total mobile commerce transactions – including retail as well as travel and food services – will happen on smartphones this year while USD 76 billion will take place on tablets, giving mobile a 29 % share of ecommerce sales this year. By 2018, US smartphone sales will reach USD 74 billion while tablet sales will hit USD 219 billion.
In 2014, smartphone sales for travel and food services are expected to reach USD 12 billion. By 2018, that number is expected to hit USD 28 billion.
Travel and food services sales on tablets will hit USD 16 billion this year and USD 43 billion by 2018.
In a separate forecast focused on ecommerce, Forrester predicts that US ecommerce sales will total USD 414 billion by 2018. While ecommerce is nearly 9 % of all retail sales, 69 % of online consumers purchase regularly online with these consumers typically spending about 16 % of their total budget in the Web channel.
The biggest categories for mobile phone retail purchases include media products, apparel and consumer electronics.
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