Smart Phone Platform Leads Online Purchases

Just when you might have been wondering how effective the mobile phone platform is in getting consumers to pull the trigger on direct purchases, we found a useful report from the Marketing Profs site that you should read.

In a nutshell, results for the second quarter of 2012 show the average order value of smartphone traffic to online retailers continues to surpass that of tablets and traditional devices. The edge for smartphones over tablets is not as significant as it was back in the last quarter of 2011, but the last twelve months show a continuing trend.

Based on a random sample of more than 100 million online shopping experiences, the iPhone edged Android in average order value, following nine months where Androids had a healthy lead. Echoing those results in the tablet category, the iPad surged slightly ahead of the Android tablet, with the Kindle Fire finishing a distant third. And on traditional computers, consumers using Apple's iOS had a large advantage over Windows browsers.

But conversely, we see smartphones with significantly lower conversion rates than tablets and traditional devices. You have to attract three-times as many buyers on a smartphone as the other platforms.

It's clear that mobile traffic is surging, but it's nice to have some concrete details on how much these shoppers are actually buying with their phones.

Take a more in-depth look at the report and let us know what you think. Are you seeing more mobile traffic? What are your thoughts on these trends?