Chicago, IL – Many US merchants that place mobile at the core of their e-commerce strategy are reaping big rewards with “m-commerce” sales of $59 billion in 2014, up 74 percent from $34 billion in 2013, according to the Internet Retailer’s latest 2015 Mobile 500 report.

Mobile sales, the report said, will account for 23 percent of total 2014 online sales of the US merchants analyzed in the report.

By contrast, e-retail sales in the US grew 15.7 percent in Q2 2014, according to the US Commerce Department. With their combined $30.8 billion in 2014 mobile sales, No. 1-ranked Amazon.com and No 2.-ranked Apple Inc. command a 37 percent share of total Mobile 500 “m-commerce” sales, the report found.

“But since the mobile commerce market is far from mature, there’s still plenty of room for growth and new players, both domestically and internationally,” it said.

The 134 overseas retailers studied in the 2015 Mobile 500 are expected to reach $25 billion in “m-commerce” sales in 2014, up an impressive 96 percent from $13 billion in 2013.

The report estimates that the world’s 500 largest mobile commerce businesses combined will increase their mobile sales by 80 percent in 2014 to more than $84 billion.

“The quantum leap in mobile sales growth worldwide is prompting many retailers to prioritize their tech spending and match consumers’ online shopping behavior, which leans toward mobile shopping on apps as opposed to shopping on a mobile web site,” the report said.

“Mobile commerce is like a hurricane rearranging the coastline of e-retailing,” said Internet Retailer publisher Jack Love in Chicago. “For e-retailers trying to ride the wave rather than being swamped by it, the 2015 Mobile 500 is a survival guide to e-commerce in the mobile age.”

08/20/2014