A first at Galaxus: orders placed on smartphones generate the most sales

Customers can visit our shops on various end devices – desktop, mobile and tablet alike. What stood out in 2022? The number of orders placed via mobile phone increased by 25.4% compared to the previous year. As it stands, about the same volume of orders are now placed on smartphones as on desktops, i.e. computers or laptops.

Smartphones increasingly being used to place orders

Sales generated on smartphones have increased by 23.1%. In contrast, sales generated on desktops remain at around the previous year’s level. To be precise, these statistics refer to incoming orders, i.e. the value of all products ordered excluding any subsequent cancellations or returns.

However, the majority of sales at Digitec and Galaxus combined still come in on desktops – around 60% more than on smartphones. Why’s that? Because Digitec customers in particular prefer to order more expensive electronics on their computers or laptops. On their phone, people are more likely to order a waffle iron from Galaxus than a new camera from Digitec.

Mobile traffic on Galaxus on the rise

In 2022, there were not only more orders and more sales on mobiles, but also more sessions, i.e. visits to our online shops. Mobile traffic increased by 17.2% year-over-year. On the other hand, desktop sessions are down by 2.7%.

At Digitec, traffic is split 50% mobile to 50% desktop and tablet. At Galaxus, the proportion of users browsing Galaxus on their smartphones increased over the year. In January, the figure was 46.5%; in December, it was as much as 5% higher.

«What sounds like little is, in fact, a considerable leap in e-commerce,» says Rosina Sigrist, Behavioural Data Specialist at Digitec Galaxus. She adds, «This trend has picked up within the last two years. I’m curious to see if the mobile advance will continue at this rate in 2023.»

A first at Galaxus: more sales on the smartphone

A device shift among the Galaxus customer base is becoming apparent. While sales made on desktops were still well over 50% two years ago, 2022 saw a change of power: «July 2022 was the first month in which we generated more sales on mobile than desktop. In December 2022, we reached 51.4% sales on mobile – the peak so far,» Rosina explains.

Mobile shopping on the weekend

When are people most busy shopping? We have the most desktop traffic on Monday, which decreases slightly over the next working days. In terms of desktop traffic, the weakest day of the week is Saturday, followed by Sunday. In return, there’s all the more mobile traffic on weekends.

The busiest time of day for desktop traffic is just before noon. Mobile traffic, on the other hand, peaks between 8 and 9 p.m.

In a nutshell

• Across both portals, we record the most traffic on mobile.
• The majority of orders across both portals are still placed on desktop, but mobile is on the rise.
• At Digitec, desktop orders generate the most sales. At Galaxus, orders placed on mobile were in the lead for the first time in 2022.
• On weekdays, customers increasingly surf and shop on their desktops, at the office or at home. On the weekend, smartphones are the more popular means.