Smartphones more popular than tablets for e-commerce

Source: Adyen. Percentage share of mobile payments by device type in Q415, according to the Mobile Payments Index.

Adyen, the global payments technology company, today published the 2015 Q4 edition (September to December) of its quarterly Mobile Payments Index*, which tracks mobile payment data from browser-based transactions across Adyen’s customer base. The key finding of this Mobile Payments Index is that for the first time, over a third (34%) of browser-based online transactions globally are now made on a mobile device, compared to just over 30% last quarter.

Source: Adyen. Percentage mobile share of key payment methods, according to the Mobile Payments Index, for Q415.

Asian payment methods driving global mobile adoption

The increase is driven particularly by major Asian-based payment methods including JCB, UnionPay, and Alipay. JCB recorded the highest share of mobile payments across all the payment methods analysed, with 54% of payments on the Adyen platform made on a mobile device, up from 47% last quarter. Alipay increased to 44% (up from 35%), and UnionPay to 31% (from 23%).

“The checkout stage of the shopper journey is not the end, but the beginning of an ongoing relationship with the consumer. Merchants that have created a frictionless mobile checkout experience are driving repeat traffic especially in Asia where many consumers are increasingly shopping online through a mobile device,” said Warren Hayashi, President, Adyen Asia Pacific.

Smartphones now more popular than tablets for online retail purchases

Shoppers have generally preferred making retail purchases on tablets rather than smartphones. However, the Index shows that for the first time, smartphones have overtaken tablets as the preferred device for making online retail purchases, at 17.5% on a smartphone against 16% on a tablet, compared to 14% and 17% respectively last quarter. This compares to 29% of digital goods payments on mobile against 7% on tablets, figures that are consistent with last quarter.

..and lead tablets in mobile payment share across the world

On a regional basis, smartphone use far outweighed tablet use in Asia, with 29.5% of online payments on a smartphone compared to 4.5% on a tablet. Smartphones continue to grow their share of mobile payment volume, increasing 2% from last quarter to 68% by smartphone versus 32% by tablet. This trend of the smartphone increasing its share has now been clear for 10 straight quarters.

The iPad has highest average transaction value

Despite the overwhelming popularity of smartphones over tablets in terms of making a purchase across both regions and verticals, one bright spot for tablets is that in terms of average transaction value (ATV) for device types, the iPad has led the way for the first time. At US$107, purchases via iPads edged out not just smartphones, but also desktops/laptops, the traditional leader, at US$106. This was followed by the Android tablets at US$86, the iPhone at US$83, and Android smartphones at US$73.

Interested?

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post on Adyen's results for Q315.

*Since June 2013, the Adyen Mobile Payment Index has tracked the rapid evolution of mobile as a payment channel, providing insight into mobile payment trends for different devices and market sectors, across selected geographies and payment methods. The Mobile Payments Index is based on Adyen’s global browser-based mobile payment transaction data, and does not track in-app mobile payments.