Consumer spending on mobiles set to soar – Barclays

RESEARCH by banking group Barclays has revealed that consumer spending on mobile devices is set to top £1.9bn a year by 2019 in the West Midlands.
 
This compares to the £583m spent today.

However, the influence of mobile on spending is expected to more than double this figure from £1.3bn to £3.5bn over the same period, making mobile the fastest growing retail segment.  

Across the UK, the figures are more eye watering with consumers set to spend £32bn a year using their smartphones and tablets by 2019, compared with the £9.7bn spent today.

Barclays suggests that to equate mobile sales in terms of store numbers, in five years’ time it would require a chain of around 30,000 stores, nearly three times the size of Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, which has 11,000 outlets worldwide.

This is against a backdrop of predictions for single digit growth across the wider retail sector. In 2014 the value of retail sales reached £325bn.

During the next five years the sector is forecast to enjoy 8.1% growth taking sales to £351bn with the figure rising to £391bn by 2024.

Ray O’Donoghue, managing director at Barclays in the Midlands, said: “The size of the retail opportunity is clear for all to see. The question every retailer should be asking themselves is what they are doing about it to not only satisfy today’s consumer but also tomorrow’s.

“There is also a lingering notion that mobile shopping is bad for store retailing. The physical high street store still has a fundamental role to play and the development of hybrids such as click and collect has conclusively demonstrated that stores can be supported rather than hindered by the growth of digital commerce.”