Koppel: the future of e-commerce lies in mobile phones

In order to survive in trade, an entrepreneur has to consider that trade is moving from shopping centres to smart devices and more and more people prefer to buy via their phone, explained the strategist of SEB Private Banking Peeter Koppel.

Before the e-commerce forum in Tallinn, one of the best-known economic analysts in Estonia, Koppel, draws attention to the changes which traditional traders are facing. Since there are much less expenses on the internet than in a regular store, some retail chains might neglect regular sales and begin to use showrooms in which employees operate more actively than in traditional stores. It cannot be forgotten that when one comes across poor service at a store, their first thought is to shop online. However, out of all the online traders, the most successful ones tend to be those where you can purchase without registering.

An increasing proportion of the world's population thinks that purchasing clothes, electronics or household appliances is more convenient online. A thoroughly thought out, stress free decision discussed with the family concerning the purchase of a new refrigerator or a vacuum cleaner, has now become strong competition for the experience of shopping in a physical store. If a product is generally a sufficiently standard and competitive, people will select the most convenient way to get it. The distress of the stores in traditional shopping centres is illustrated by the fact that since 2007, the turnover of online shopping is growing by approximately 17% per year.

Seven years ago, Americans used their mobile device for about 50 minutes and computer 2.5 hours per day. Today, mobile phones are used for more than three hours per day and computers almost two hours.

Tablet users are the online shoppers who spend the most, and if your online store is not tablet or mobile friendly, then purchases will not be made.

Just ten years ago about 94% of the USA's shopping centres were doing well. This indicator has now fallen to 80 per cent and almost 15% of shopping centres have more than a tenth of empty sales space.

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Foto: Ilmar Saabas