There has been a 16% uplift in mobile traffic in the past year, according to analysis of 20 billion web sessions.
A study by Contentsquare has found that almost two-thirds (64%) of total website traffic came from smartphones in 2020, up 16% from 2019. The findings are based on the examination of 20 billion web sessions from over 900 websites, representing the world's biggest brands.
The 2021 Digital Experience Benchmark report has found that the luxury sector dominated mobile in 2020, with 76% of that sector's visits originating from a mobile device. Following closely behind were the beauty and clothing sectors, where smartphone users make up 72% and 70% of all online visits respectively.
However, the findings show that desktop still dominates in B2B (81%) and financial services (57%), where visitors tend to access sites on work computers or prefer larger screen size to complete transactions.
The report has also highlighted an "explosion of mobile app usage" in the past year, which has seen mobile app screen views increase by 202%. Time spent on mobile apps peaked at the start of the pandemic, with a 91% increase in session time in March 2020.
Despite the overall increase in browsing on mobiles, the research reveals that almost half (49%) of mobile users bounce after viewing just one page - suggesting that many businesses need to work harder to improve the online customer experience on smartphones.
"Digital teams and business leaders are already familiar with the mobile imperative," said Niki Hall, cmo at Contentsquare. "The acceleration of smartphone usage observed in 2020 serves as a reminder that to remain competitive today, you need to offer a seamless experience on both your mobile site and app.
"Smartphones are no longer just another way for visitors to interact and shop with your brand - they're becoming the preferred way for consumers to discover and research new products and services. And with almost half of mobile users exiting your site before they make it to the second page, brands should lean on customer intelligence to ensure the experiences they design match users' goals and expectations."
Written by Rachel Miller.