The number of annual purchases made via mobiles, tablets, desktops and other connected devices should reach 125 billion annually by 2018, up by more than 60 per cent on this year’s total. According to Juniper Research, medium term growth will be driven by a variety of factors including a rise in “commuter commerce” (on-the-go purchases) which will itself be fuelled by greater deployments of Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity on public transport. Whilst digital transaction volumes will be further bolstered with the continued transition from physical formats (such as DVDs and CD-ROMs) to digital, and the rise in streamed subscription services.

Meanwhile, Juniper Research's new report - Mobile & Online Purchases: Cards, Carrier Billing & Third Party Payment Platforms 2015-2020 - highlights the dramatic surge in Chinese e-retail, with Alibaba attracting more than 330 million buyers during 2014. With nearly $450 billion in e-retail sales during 2014, China has comfortably surpassed the US ($296 billion) to become the largest single market, with Japan, the UK and France completing the top five.

At the same time, however, the report cautions that several high profile data breaches at retailers have resulted in significant consumer unease. Research author Dr Windsor Holden comments: “At worst, data breaches can lead to significant customer churn, together with possible remuneration requirements. Consumers need to be reassured that their vital information is not being compromised or shared.”

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