14.72% of all December 2012 sales through the Affiliate Windownetwork of 10,000 affiliate sites were made through mobile devices, up from 12.30% in November 2012 and 5.79% in December 2011, the U.K. affiliate network reports.
5.8% of sales in December stemmed from smartphones, up from 4.64% in November, Affiliate Window says. 8.92% of December sales were made on tablets, up from 7.66% in November.
19.04% of traffic on the affiliate network in December came through mobile devices, up from 16.29% in November, the network reports. 11.11% of December traffic was from smartphones, up from 9.45% in November. 7.93% of December traffic stemmed from tablets, up from 6.84% in November.
Mobile traffic on the affiliate network converted in December 2012 at a rate of 4.37%, up from 3.89% in November 2012 and 3.68% in December 2011, Affiliate Window says.
Conversion is up because more consumers have become more comfortable with shopping on mobile devices, says Matt Swan, a client strategist at Affiliate Window.
“And with more advanced devices being launched, coupled with improved Internet connectivity through these devices, it has been easier for consumers to transact through their mobile devices without the page load speeds being as problematic as they have been in the past,” Swan says.
Additionally, many more affiliates and retailers launched mobile-optimized versions of their sites in 2012, Swan says.
“By launching mobile-optimized versions of their sites, these companies have made it more intuitive for visitors to browse, select and ultimately purchase products directly from the mobile site,” he says. “Previously the user experience was fiddly, with the user having to zoom in to see the products and descriptions, and required the visitor to work harder to be able to check out. With more advertisers providing their visitors with a fully optimized mobile site, it is more convenient to convert through a mobile handset, hence the improvement we have seen in mobile conversion rates.”
When it comes to sales by type of mobile device, Apple Inc. has a commanding lead. For the entirety of 2012, 59% of mobile sales through Affiliate Window’s network came from iPads and 23% from iPhones, the network reports. Only 12% of sales occurred on an Android device while 3% happened on a BlackBerry and 3% on other mobile devices.