Web-based mobile transactions continue to grow, up 48 percent in the past year in North America and representing 16.9 percent of all transactions, according to new data released today by Adyen.

Overall, mobile transactions were up 9 percent in the second quarter of 2014 from the previous quarter. All of the sectors reviewed saw a decrease in transactions from tablets except for retail, pointing to the growing preference for smartphones for conducting transactions.

“While both tablet and smartphone use in m-commerce has been increasing overall, smartphones have been increasing its share of transactions over tablets likely due to its form factor,” said Kamran Zaki, president of North America at Adyen.

“Phones are more portable than tablets, and typically are always with you, which makes them ideal for on-the-go use, at work or while commuting; and they are always connected to a 4G or Wi-Fi network, which cannot be said for all tablets,” he said.

“In the retail sector, we’ve seen tablet use increase because its larger screen makes it ideal for browsing and buying. Last quarter, both smartphones and tablets increased their share of retail transactions.”

Mobile ticketing
The most recent quarterly mobile payments index from Adyen, a global provider of omni-channel Web-based payment solutions, covers the period April through June 2014.

During this period, mobile payments accounted for nearly 22 percent of all Web-based payments on Adyen’s network, up 9 percent over the first quarter and 33 percent from a year ago.

Additionally, nearly 71.5 percent of all Adyen merchants worldwide processed mobile transactions in the second quarter.

By segment, mobile Web transactions were up 5.3 percent in Ticketing, 5 percent in travel, 3.2 percent in retail, 1.7 percent in digital goods and were down 2.5 percent in gaming-related transactions. The decline is attributed to an increase in in-app purchases.

Android’s growing role
In terms of share of transactions, smartphones accounted for 27.24 percent of travel transactions while tablets brought in 12.34 percent. In digital goods, smartphones accounted for 20.12 percent and tablets 5.91 percent while in gaming, phones accounted for 5.04 percent and tablets 2.33 percent.

In retail, phones were responsible for 10.01 percent of transactions and tablets 19.04 percent while in ticketing, phones brought in 21.06 percent and tablets 8.08 percent.

In terms of transaction values, the retail sector experienced growth from both smartphone and tablet users, with average price on mobile phones $89.57 and on tablets, $118.80.

Other key findings include that the use of Android devices in mobile commerce is growing at a tremendous rate – particularly Android smartphones. However, Android devices still account for only a small percentage of transactions compared to iOS-based phones and tablets.

By device, 8.3 of mobile Web transactions came from an iPad, up 6.5 percent from the previous quarter and 12.25 percent from the previous year. The iPhone represented 6.6  percent of mobile Web transactions, up 6.5 percent on quarterly basis and 24 percent on a yearly basis.

Android’s growth was significantly higher, more than double that of iOS, with Android tablets up 13.25 percent from the previous quarter and 90 percent from the previous year. Android smartphones were up 15.25 percent on a quarterly basis and 104 percent on a yearly basis.

However, Android tablets accounted for just 1.7 percent of payment transactions while Android smartphones accounted for 5.2 percent.

The numbers point to the growth in mobile payments, which is expected to continue through the second half and beyond.

“If quarterly growth is an indicator, we may very well see over 30 percent of our payments traffic coming from mobile by the end of the year,” Mr. Zaki said.

“However, there are lots of factors that could affect mobile commerce transactions, such as the Back To School and 2013 Holiday Shopping seasons, move from Web based mobile payments to in app purchases etc.,” he said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York