The Netherlands: 1.5 million consumers order products, services via internet-enabled mobile devices – report

According to the study, during H1 2012, 1.5 million Dutch consumers ordered a product or service via the internet using mobile devices. The same statistic for H1 2011 was a mere 740,000. Additionally, the study explains that the market for mobile orders continues its rapid growth. On average, consumers placed 3.3 orders with a mobile apparatus during H1 2012. These were mainly small orders; four out of every ten mobile purchasers purchased apps or mobile software. Music and downloads take second place in the top 5 mobile segments (12 percent). However, mobile purchases are not limited to small orders, as people are increasingly purchasing clothes and shoes via their smartphone or tablet (10 percent). In addition, tickets (9 percent) and books, magazines, newspapers (9 percent) are also in the top 5 segments purchased mobile via the internet.

Moreover, the study has revealed that the use of mobile devices is still very much a work-in-progress. Most mobile consumers order mainly with their smartphones (69 percent). This is because more people have a smartphone than a tablet and mobile consumers order mainly apps and mobile software. Almost one-third of mobile consumers mainly use a tablet to order. This proportion is expected to increase rapidly in the next few months. What is also subject to change is the location where mobile orders are placed. Most consumers (66 percent) placed their last order at home, using a smartphone or tablet. However, the proportion of purchasers who placed their most recent order ‘en route’ rose sharply from 5 percent in 2011 to 15 percent in 2012.

Finally, the report has found that the Dutch m-commerce market is expected to continue its rapid growth in 2012. The number and the quality of applications for tablets and of specific websites for smartphones will increase. The fact that consumers are always online will have a positive effect on both orientation and transactions via mobile means. In 2012 the total number of mobile purchasers is expected to reach 2 million.

The study dubbed the “M-commerce Monitor 2012-1” is a half-yearly research into mobile online purchases conducted by Dutch market research agency Blauw Research and Thuiswinkel.org, a branch association for businesses that sell products and services to consumers via the internet, catalogues and/or the post.