Global Digital Commerce: Mobile Traffic Share Jumps to 57%, Social Traffic Up 42% YoY

Mobile and social are shaping digital commerce growth, this according to the 2017 Q2 Shopping Index. The Shopping Index analyzes the activity of more than 500 million shoppers worldwide to identify trends and changes in shopping activity. It represents the truest picture of shopping today. The shopping index report is published quarterly by Salesforce Commerce Cloud, with a focus on key markets: the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Germany, France and Australia/New Zealand. This battery of benchmarks provides a deep look into the last nine quarters and the current state of digital commerce. To qualify for inclusion in the analysis set, a digital commerce site must have transacted throughout Q2-2015 through Q2-2017 analysis period and meet a monthly minimum visit threshold.

Here are the 10 key takeaways from the Q2 2017 shopping index report:

1. Shopper spend outpaced traffic as the primary driver of the 14% digital commerce global growth year-over-year.

2. Mobile traffic share jumped to 57%, a 23% increase year-over-year. Retailers can expect to see more than 60% of traffic from phones by the end of 2017.

3. 59% of consumers reported using their phones while shopping in a physical store within the last three months.

“Mobile is not simply about digital engagement, it is the most disruptive force to retail since the arrival of ecommerce.” — Shopping Index 2017

4. The buying intent for active shoppers is 16%. Buying intent quantifies the level of interest an aggregate set of shoppers express during their shopping journey within the analysis period. There are two aggregate shopper groups measured: 1.) Buyers: shoppers that made a purchase(s), and 2.) Active Shoppers: shoppers that expressed a buying signal but did not place an order. Buying signals include orders, checkout starts, baskets created, and site searches.

5. 45% of digital commerce order share was from mobile devices. Order Share was defined as share of orders placed on each device, expressed as a percentage. Traffic share, the share of visits on each device, expressed as a percentage, from mobile devices was 43%.

6. Q2 2017 digital commerce average order value: $128, discount Rate: 18% and free shipping: 70%

• Average Order Value: The per-order amount spent by the shopper.
• Discount Rate: The share of an order amount that was reduced due to merchandise or order discounts. This value does not include product markdowns or reductions in shipping cost.
• Free Shipping: The share of total orders that shipped at no cost to the shopper, expressed as a percentage.

7. Digital commerce site search usage is at 12%, contributing to 29% of total digital commerce revenue by shoppers. 20% of visitors are either buying or showing clear buying behavior, like searching, adding products to a cart, and starting checkouts.

8. Social traffic is up 42% year-over-year and drives 10% of mobile traffic (6% smartphone, 4% tablet).

“Social is fast becoming the face of the brand, an important part of the marketing mix, and the point at which shoppers interact with a brand for the first time.” — Shopping Index 2017

9. The average digital commerce visit during across all devices ranged between 5 and 7 minutes.

“It is now more important than ever to effectively engage shoppers on-site with personalized and relevant interactions.” — Shopping Index 2017

10. Android OS represented 66% of mobile orders and 65% of traffic by operating system.

To learn more about the shopping index findings, including of segmentation of data by country, please visit here.