6 Charts Will Convince You That Apple Already Totally Dominates Mobile E-Commerce

People often say that Apple has lost the mobile platform war to Google because Android users form up to 80% of all mobile device users.

But when it comes to mobile e-commerce, Google remains an also-ran. iPhone and iPad users are the majority of people shopping via mobile, and they usually spend more than Android users, too.

These charts were compiled from data provided by Monetate, a company that monitors mobile traffic on retail websites. They explain why Apple is moving so quickly to build up iBeacon, its mobile payments and e-commerce network, and why the company expects it will be such a huge business.

Its data comes from Q4 2013, and covers 7 billion transactions. Nearly one in three online shopping transactions is done on mobile. Desktop shopping is essentially in decline. But year after year, Monetate's data shows the same thing: When it comes to mobile e-commerce, Apple wins.

Nearly 60% of all visits on mobile phones come from Apple. Android has a healthy market share of nearly 40% but ...

... Not when it comes to tablets. Apple's iPad is the dominant provider of tablet traffic to retailers.

Android users spend a little more than iPhone customers when they shop via mobile, but ...

Apple customers are much bigger spenders when shopping via iPad.

The percentage of people who actually buy something after landing on a retail site is universally low, around 1%. But even so, iPhone conversion rates are double those of Android.

BI / Monetate

They're even more superior on the iPad.

Peter Fader, a professor of marketing at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, says people should focus more on where the business is and less on where the users are: In Monetate's report, he was quoted as saying, "... it intrigued me that during the holidays, news outlets were focusing on the fact that despite Android's dominance over iOS in terms of sheer numbers of devices, the Apple products delivered more Christmas sales than its better-selling competitor ... So yes, maybe we're selling more Android phones, but if consumers are doing less on it, then its net contribution to the economy or the app environment is less."