Retail, Food, and Finance Going Mobile

Thanks to the advent of Mobile devices, many things have become more readily available to consumers than ever before. People no longer even have to leave their houses to go shopping for items such as clothes or food.

Other industries have become more streamlined due to mobile devices as well, such as banking and travel. According to a report put together by App Annie many different sectors of the mobile retail market are experiencing solid growth.

The same report highlighted how the growth of mobile has impacted various industries.
 

Retail a Prime Beneficiary of the Growth of Mobile

People are spending more time on shopping apps, approximately 18 billion hours in 2018, which was a 45% increase from 2016. This increase in time spent on shopping apps has been propelled by users in emerging markets such as Thailand, which saw a 465% increase in time spent on shopping apps from 2016-2018.
 

People Spending More Time On Apps Has a Strong Correlation with Increased Sales

This increase in time spent on Shopping apps bodes well for the mobile market, as there is an extremely strong correlation between time spent on an app and e-commerce sales. It is estimated that at the current rate of growth, mobile will comprise nearly 75% of all e-commerce sales by 2021.
 

Who May Benefit from This Growth?

Ecommerce companies in emerging market countries such as China and India may benefit from this increase in time spent and revenue generated on mobile shopping apps. Specifically, companies such as Alibaba, who deal heavily in apps may benefit from the growth in online retail. Other companies such as JD.com, MercadoLibre, Tencent, and Baidu may also benefit from an increase in mobile retail as well.
 

Food from Your Phone

Food delivery apps fill a need for many people, which is one of the reasons for their rapid growth. Orders through food apps increased 130% worldwide from 2016-2018, highlighting the importance of convenience to many consumers.

Food delivery and orders are not the only aspects of food apps.  Many chain restaurants now have loyalty reward programs through apps to incentivize customers to purchase their products more frequently.

Companies like Delivery Hero may be able to take advantage of consumers prioritising convenience in their daily lives.
 

Mobile Banking Bringing Convenience to Customers

Global downloads of finance and banking apps rose to 3.4 billion in 2018, a 75% increase from 2016. Emerging markets such as Indonesia, who experienced a 400% increase, have helped fuel this growth.

Mobile is bringing banking to emerging markets where the population generally does not have the same access to banking services available in developed markets.

Average users check their banking apps approximately once a day, which showcases the ability of banking apps to become a part of a user’s everyday routine.

Companies with mobile pay apps such as Alibaba’s strategic partner, Ant Financial (Alipay), WeChat Pay (Tencent), and MercadoPago (MercadoLibre) will benefit from more people wanting to access banks.
 

Fintech Apps Finding Popularity Amongst Users

Fintech also has worked its way into becoming part of the user’s daily routines with many users checking stocks and other financial information. It is also a new way for people to pay in-store by scanning a code linked to their online wallet, capitalising on consumer’s desires for convenience.

Fintech companies such as Venmo, who announced they are coming out with a debit card, are beginning to move into consumer banking and represent a disruptive threat to the traditional retail banking industry.

This disruption could spur growth innovation in the industry. Both Alibaba and Ctrip have introduced loyalty programs for their customers to promote using their services over competitors.
 

Travel Apps are the New Travel Agencies

Another category of mobile apps that has experienced solid growth (50% from 2016-2018) is travel and navigation apps. Mobile has become the new travel agency for many users due to its convenience and centralisation of everything the consumer needs to plan their travel.

Airlines have benefited from apps as well as they are now able to improve the customer experience and promote loyalty through reward programs.

Two of the largest online travel companies in China are Ctrip.com and Fliggy, which is a unit of Alibaba Transportation apps such as car sharing and bike/scooter rental apps have shown growth as well, car apps are up 25% YoY and bike/scooter rentals are up 530%.

These two forms of transportation evolved completely due to the increase in popularity of mobile apps. Alibaba and Tencent are both part of a group of companies that are investing 1.45 billion in a new ridesharing venture in China.
 

Summary

Mobile has permeated every area of consumers daily routine from ordering dinner to checking stocks. Consumers are now able to perform tasks in a much more time efficient manner thanks to various apps. The use of mobile devices is increasing in both time and versatility and does not appear to be showing signs of slowing down.

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