The eCommerce industry is thriving now more than ever before, and is poised to only get bigger and better as more and more people around the globe abandon their cash and cards in lieu of mobile payment methods.

The era of technological innovation, which has dominated the 21st century and permeated our lives in almost every way, is one that values efficiency, immediacy and interconnectedness above all else. Looking at our world through this lens is perhaps the most apt way of understanding the eCommerce boom, and why industries such as the mobile payment market are so successful: because they are founded and continue to operate upon these 3 values.

Rooted within the technological advancements we have witnessed in the last 2 decades is the desire to condense all our needs into one device. This demand indisputably fuelled the invention of the smartphone, and may be propelling the success of the mobile payment market. Our desire for efficiency and maximum reward with minimum input has disrupted the old model of cash and card, and the technology being invented to keep up with our demands is changing the game for both merchants and consumers alike. Gone are the days when tap-and-go debit card had us all wide-eyed, as cards are now being phased out, and tapping your phone is becoming the new normal.

Mobile commerce, including in-app payments and mobile browser payments, is the dominant factor driving strong digital commerce growth. This is due to rising smartphone adoption, an increasing shift towards online shopping, and improvements in network bandwidth. As smartphones can now confidently claim the title of having monopolised mobile phones, it is unsurprising that paying for things via our phones is now the natural next step in the global phenomenon of condensing all our needs into one place. In order to understand the full extent of this prevailing industry, we must take a look at its progress across all 4 corners of the globe.

The mobile commerce industry is a $3 trillion industry, accounting for nearly half of all digital commerce sales globally (as of 2017) and is forecasted to reach 70% by 2022. According to a report from McKinsey & Company released in October of 2018, the mobile commerce boom has experienced the largest annual increase measured in the last five years. The 20% growth rate in 2017, driven largely by liquidity factors, was Asia-Pacifics’s strongest ever. The Asia-Pacific region already comprises over half of this $3 trillion and, due to the fast-growing Chinese market, will increase its share to nearly 70 percent by 2022.

Across the pond, North America has become the first region to execute over half of their transactions electronically, a staggering fact that is proleptic of the collective shift to come as the rest of the world follows suit.

Ideal, a bankdriven solution leveraging transfers rather than card rails, executes 40 percent of eCommerce volume in the Netherlands. Leading pizza brands in both the UK and US originate more than 60 percent of their orders either in-app or online. Closer to home, Uber, Deliveroo, and even basic online clothes shopping are all rather significant cogs in the wheel of the mobile payment market.